Say so long to parking meters

The city council decided to not renew the city’s contract with the company that operates the parking meter system on Jos. Campau. For now, parking is free.

‘Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters’
Bob Dylan, “Subterranean Homesick Blues”

By Charles Sercombe
In a move that was in the making for the past couple of years, the city council agreed to end the former parking-meter system.
The council technically decided, at its last meeting, not to renew its contract with Municipal Parking Systems (MPS) after many complaints from business owners and residents alike over the meters.
“The company came here to make money,” said Councilmember Khalil Refai. “They (MPS) don’t care about business owners. We’ve been getting complaints like crazy. It’s time to say ‘adios.’”
The main beef was that the system was hard to operate, sometimes even faulty, both of which often led to innocent folks getting tickets, and business owners complaining about how their customers were being chased away.
By some estimates from business owners (or previous ones), their revenues decreased by anywhere from 25 to 50 percent – losses that meant some businesses had to close.
Starting on July 1, this past Tuesday, parking on Jos. Campau and in the municipal parking lots is free – even though — for the time being — the meters are still in place.
As of Monday, the entire meter system was no longer in operation.
Interim City Manager Syed Aamir Ahsan said the company will soon start to remove the old meters.
Mayor Amer Ghalib, who is also in favor of eliminating the meters, said the city will have to come up with a new metering system in order to offset the loss of $200,000 a year in revenue.
He said that eliminating the meters will have a positive impact for potential business growth in the city’s main business district on Jos. Campau, where most of the meters are located.
“More visitors will come; more investments will come to the main street. and hopefully there would be benefits and revenues for the city when this happens,” he said. “Hopefully, we can make up for the loss. … We don’t need to punish people to make money.”
Councilmember Mohammed Hassan said some business owners told him that they are willing to donate money to the city to help replace lost revenue.
The meter system, which featured cameras mounted on posts to record license plate numbers and how long those cars were parked, was brought in five years ago, in 2020, at a time when the city was looking for additional revenue streams.
The city’s previous parking meters had long been out of commission.
Although there was some opposition on council at the time, the meters arrived a year later.
Even at that time, however, there were already a number of online complaints from other communities that used this system.
“They give you a ticket even if you pay your meter. If you contest online, they deny you even if you have evidence. There is no appeal. There is no due process. Just pure thieving. Shameful. Don’t visit Detroit!” wrote one reviewer who went by the initials CL.
Another reviewer who went by the moniker Rickorius Maximus had this to say:
“Got a ticket for parking in a no standing zone. Submitted a photo of my car parking IN FRONT of a sign that says I am free to park. Denied my appeal.”
There were 38 reviews of the company on Google at the time the city installed the meters – every one of them a thumbs-down.
Now, however, there is the age-old concern here about business owners and their employees hogging parking space on Jos. Campau all day long.
The council said city parking enforcers will monitor how long cars are parked and ticket those that stay longer than one hour. What’s unclear, though, is how many city employees are available to patrol for parking violations.
The council said it will look into a replacement meter system, but no immediate action is underway.
Posted July 3, 2025