Many of the parking meters in New Westminster have been upgraded to accept new loonies and toonies.
James Doan, the city's supervisor of parking, said the city has upgraded about 850 parking meters in the city so they accept the new coins.
"Unfortunately, New Westminster, like any other city in Canada, we had to cover the cost of the upgrade," he said. "It's roughly about $10,000."
Doan said about five per cent of the city's meters haven't yet been upgraded to accept the new coins. Decals have been posted on these meters so residents are aware they aren't accepting the new coins.
Doan noted that the city is continuing with the expansion of pay stations that have been tested in Sapperton. As that expansion continues, the rest of the meters will be upgraded to accept the new coins.
Earlier this year, the city learned that the Royal Canadian Mint was changing the composition of loonies and toonies from nickel, to a multiply steel composition. The switch in coin composition meant the city had to upgrade its parking meters to recognize the new weights of the coins.
J.J. MacKay Canada Limited, which supplies the parking meters to the City of New Westminster, said the new coins have the same monetary value as the previous coins, but have different "electronic signatures" because of their new material compositions. Parking meters recognize the composition or weight of particular coins, and can even determine when a foreign coin has been inserted.
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