You can now pay a parking meter in Montreal with a smartphone

[jesseps]

The city of Montreal unveiled on Thursday a new service that will allow people to pay their parking meters with their cellphones, starting today.Finally! I heard about the Internet capabilities of Montreal’s parking meters many years ago, when they put the meters on display at the Montreal Science Center.

The new system called P$ service mobile, designed by Transcontinental Media and Stationnement de Montréal, will allow you to pay using a credit card if you have downloaded the mobile application (which works on Blackberrys, iPhones and Android phones). You can also access the payment portal on a regular computer. The app will remind you 15 minutes before your parking time is up to top up the payment in order to avoid getting a ticket.

The only hitch, and it’s a big one: you’ll have to pay 40 cents per transaction. Since many people spent about a dollar or two on parking per shot, this is probably a very steep pill to swallow. I suspect the price will actually be prohibitive for most people.

The Montreal Gazette

About time. Sucks that they charge 0.40 cents per transaction though.

[caribb]

Love it.. just downloaded the app, Thanks!!

[jesseps]

It is a pretty good app. I've used it twice so far. Sucks that you get charged $0.40 per use, but I guess that is better than dealing with a parking ticket.

[Road Warrior]

I really feel that the 0.40$ charge per use is not only unacceptable, but also insulting! I hope nobody uses it until they completely remove the fee. Money grabbing at its finest ladies and gents!

Buuuuuut, genius idea.......

[mcgill]

40 cents seems reasonable as an economic (opportunity) cost. Saves you having to leave your meeting/meal/movie to walk back to your meter and pay. It's one of those things where charging a nominal amount makes people think twice before doing it.

[BruB]

Sommes-nous vraiment en train d'avoir un discussion sur 0,40$ sous que personne ne vous force à payer ?

J'ai utilisé l'application à plusieurs reprises, quand...
...Je suis stationné loin de l'endroit où je vais être.
...Je me stationne et que je prend le métro ensuite pour me rendre à destination.
...Il pleut et je ne veux pas sortir de l'endroit où je suis.
...Je suis en bonne compagnie et que tout à coup, sortir pour payer mon parcomètre est une pause dans quelque chose que je ne veux pas.
...je ne sais pas quand je vais sortir d'où je suis.
...je n'ai pas de monnaie sous la main.

Je n'utilise pas l'application et sauve donc 0,40$ quand...
...j'entre à quelque part pour un temps donné, entre et sort dans les 20-30 minutes.
...je suis à quelques secondes de la borne payante et d'où je suis.
...j'ai de la monnaie sous les mains.

Donc c'est votre choix, est-ce un "money grab" oui, mets en, mais est-ce que nous simplifier la vie vaut la peine de temps en temps de dépenser un 0,40$ de plus, oui, mets-en.

[Road Warrior]

I would like to retract my previous complaint about the 0,40$. I was thinking with the mindset of a broke moron. The service is fantastic and i have used it many times. The money is well worth it when you need to use it. First time i used it was when i parked my car downtown and went to La Ronde. This is when i had my AHA! moment. I've been using it ever since and everytime, i think to myself, this is really worth 0.40$. And Brub hit it right on the head.