The Winnipeg Parking Authority will reduce the number of parking pay stations on Winnipeg streets this year.

Colin Stewart, policy analyst with the Winnipeg Parking Authority says we currently have 537 parking meters in our city. The goal is to get rid of 144 of those by the end of the year.

"Over time as technology has improved and things like being able to pay with your phone have come on stream, the industry has shifted. So the number of spaces controlled by an individual pay station has increased," said Stewart.

When the city originally installed the pay stations in 2006, they were put in at a greater density than the industry standard. At that time, the average was about 12-20 spaces controlled by one parking meter. Winnipeg put them in at about one for every eight spaces.

"We wanted to make it easier for Winnipeggers to adapt to this change, because obviously it is something new," Stewart explained.

The meters that are being removed are scattered throughout the city. Stewart says they still would like to maintain a particular level of service.

"On non regional streets, there will still be one meter on each block, and on regional streets, there will be one each block face, so there will still be one on each side of the street on regional streets," said Stewart.

Removing the 144 meters will provide an immediate operational savings of $300,000 a year for the City of Winnipeg.