New meters to open up 150 parking spots downtown

Calgary has replaced four blocks of traditional parking meters with new solar-powered machines that allow drivers to pay with cash, credit cards or through cellphone accounts.

The new ParkPlus meters between 5th and 7th streets SW were unveiled Thursday.

More meters will be replaced over the next year at a cost of $6 million. They willadd another 150 to 200 street parking spots to the 2,000 downtown, because they allow cars to be parked closer together and not just near the meters.

Maggie Schofield, a spokeswoman with the Calgary Downtown Association, said finding a parking spot is one of the biggest problems they hear about.

"Probably in the top three at any given pointin time. Almost every day of the week, I get a call or I get someone coming to the office saying, 'You know, I can't find a spot.'"

In March, the Calgary Parking Authority was getting about 200 reports a day about failed parking meters. The problem started last fall, when people who park downtown began complaining the machines were plugged or not working.

"Certainly, with the recent spate of meter vandalism, it was time for us to move away from meters," said Dale Fraser, general manager of the authority.

The problem is costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire extra crews to go out and fix the meters.