Pay-by-plate parking set for downtown Sudbury

If you're in the habit of feeding parking meters for hours on end in downtown Sudbury, your days of doing so are numbered.

At a meeting on Tuesday, city council voted unanimously to replace meters with a new pay-by-plate system that allows drivers to top up their time from their smartphone. Councillors agreed to implement a strict time limit on how long you can park on the street.

The motion, put forward by Coun. Fern Cormier, will limit time at parking meters to three hours. Under the new system, when the three hours runs out, you won't be able to top up your meter. Instead, you'll have to move your car.

"The objective of having a limit of course is to avoid that all day parking," he said.

"Having it at three hours still avoids that and encourages people to use parking lots where it is unlimited and you can park for the whole day."

Right now, on-street meters only allow parking for two hours, but people can put more money in the meter when it expires. Cormier says people parked in lots will have the option of topping up their time all day.

Counc. Geoff McCausland says he agrees with the three hour limit.

"This is likely going to alleviate a lot of tension," he said. "We have a wonderful new system coming."

The city hopes to launch the new app on June 24.