San Bernardino council okays contracted meter technician, narrows paid-parking hours and orders El Camino kiosks removed

San Bernardino — The City Council on April 29 approved multiple measures to stabilize its downtown paid-parking program and give staff more tools to fix recurring kiosk failures.

The council voted unanimously, 5–0, to authorize funding for a contracted master (meter) technician and related kiosk work after staff told members that recent technical troubleshooting by vendor T2 Systems had improved reliability but that the program still needed dedicated, high-level technical support.

Staff framed the funding request as part of a package of fixes to reduce kiosk malfunctions, improve mobile payment options and rebalance enforcement. “They have a path forward that they believe is going to really stabilize the kiosk performance,” interim chief Susan Manheimer (Speaker 5) said of the vendor’s recent on-the-ground work.

Why it matters

Council members said merchants and residents had repeatedly reported errors and frustrating payment flows since the program’s launch. Staff reported roughly 371,705 kiosk transactions since April 2024 and characterized generated revenues as about $1.2 million to date (staff-reported); council members said they needed clearer trend reports to weigh any decisions that reduce enforcement hours or revenue.

What the council did

- Funding for technician and installations: The council approved a motion (carried 5–0) to authorize additional funding to contract a master meter technician and pay for limited kiosk reinstallation/leveling work. Staff told council that the technician would provide advanced diagnostics and over-the-air programming support that the city does not have in-house.

- El Camino Real kiosks: A separate motion to remove kiosks on El Camino Real carried 3–2. Supporters said that location produces little revenue and creates service overhead; opponents warned of lost revenue and neighborhood displacement effects.

- Cash option in lots: The council approved, 3–2, a motion to allow a 50¢ per-hour cash rate in parking lots (with card users required to cover transaction fees), intended to reduce coin-related jams and provide a low-cost option for cash users.

- Enforcement hours: Council approved 4–1 a motion to shift the start of paid-parking enforcement from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. citywide to provide relief for early-morning customers and merchants.

- Rate adjustments: A staff proposal giving staff latitude to adjust hourly rates to recapture any lost revenue failed on a 2–3 vote; council members expressed concern about raising rates before promised reliability and data trends were fully realized.

Details from staff and vendors

T2 Systems municipal lead Joe Wyler (Speaker 7) said the company’s kiosk software integrates with a variety of mobile-pay vendors and that the city’s current installation could be configured to work with multiple apps. “Our kiosk software also integrates with a variety of other mobile pay apps,” Wyler said, noting the vendor can support both in-browser and app-based flows.

Staff and vendor representatives described several technical root causes discovered during troubleshooting, including coin jams and a software version that prevented meters from sleeping (which drained batteries). City staff said targeted preventative maintenance and component replacement have reduced some failure modes; staff recommended a contracted technician to keep on top of ongoing software updates and hardware diagnostics.

Council concerns and data requests

Several council members pressed for more granular utilization and revenue trend reports (daily and monthly) before making permanent policy changes. One council member said the primary goal of the program is turnover in downtown spaces, not revenue generation, and asked staff to provide occupancy-by-time-period data (particularly for the 8–10 a.m., 6–8 p.m. and full-Sunday windows) to inform any permanent exemptions.

What’s next

Staff will implement the approved funding for technician support and the limited kiosk reinstallation work; they will also begin the process for removing the El Camino Real kiosks at earliest convenience per council direction. Staff said they will continue to pilot mobile-pay and kiosk-screen workarounds (including a plan to place anti-graffiti “free holiday” stickers and test an air‑delivered welcome-screen message) and will return with more detailed utilization and budget impact reports during the budget process.

Attributions and reporting notes

Quotes and attributions in this article come directly from the April 29 public meeting transcript. Speakers are identified by the name or functional label used in the transcript (e.g., Susan Manheimer, T2 Systems representative Joe Wyler, and council members identified by their speaker label when the transcript did not include a full name).