The hidden fee spreading across Vermont parking meters

Pull up to a space in one of six Vermont communities, and rather than the typical parking meter, you might see a big green sign with a four- or five-digit number on it.

That is your indication that you can pay for the parking space through the ParkMobile app, a service created by the private company Arrive, which has contracted with cities throughout the nation, including in Vermont, to provide a pay-by-phone service.

Most of the cost of parking through the app goes to the municipality, like any other parking system. But in small print on the final transaction screen is a “service fee” that goes directly to ParkMobile and can range from 35 cents to $2.

And in cities like Burlington that can have tens of thousands of parking transactions per month, that fee can add up. ParkMobile has earned more than $1 million in service fees in Burlington between 2021 and 2026, according to records provided by the Burlington city attorney’s office.

Robert Goulding, a public information manager for the Burlington Department of Public Works, said via email that “users have found it a reliable and convenient way to pay for parking – especially when they want to start a parking session from their climate-controlled vehicle or need to remotely extend a parking session.”

The complex calculation used to determine the service fee can sometimes result in seemingly backward payments. VtDigger collected parking transactions from across the state. In several municipalities, for shorter parking times, it is possible to pay more in service fees than in the actual parking charges.

For example, parking in Barre, Vt., with the app for 15 minutes on a weekday afternoon costs 80 cents. Only 25 cents goes to the city, while the rest goes to ParkMobile in service fees, according to parking transaction data.

Those service fees also vary by town. In Burlington, ParkMobile set a service fee of 15% of the total cost of parking, but with a minimum fee of 35 cents and a maximum of $2.50, according to a contract provided by the city attorney’s office.

In St. Albans, Vt., ParkMobile charges a flat service fee of 40 cents per transaction, according to a contract provided by Sarah Macy, the city’s director of finance.

Haley Haas, a spokesperson for Arrive, said via email that ParkMobile does indeed set different transaction fees by city and contract.

“Prices depend on local market conditions,” she wrote.

She said the fees allow ParkMobile “to continue providing a seamless experience for users while evolving our platform to meet the changing needs of modern cities.”

City officials said the convenience of ParkMobile was well worth the price. Macy said the old system in St. Albans’ city-owned parking garage, with a kiosk and gate, was prone to vandalism and technical issues that drained city resources.

“Moving to ParkMobile allowed us to make a change away from that really heavy infrastructure-focused method to something that was less easy to vandalize, to be frank with you, and we were able to do that without putting a lot of money upfront,” she said.

But some Vermonters have complained about ParkMobile’s growing reach. Montpelier, Vt., resident Ian Anderson said that he’s noticed the app loading the wrong zone, forcing you to manually correct it. The ParkMobile app “doesn’t work for everyone,” yet in places it’s the only option, he said.

Steve McLafferty in Stowe went even further, calling it a “crappy app.” He received a ticket from the city of Burlington in 2024 due to an error in the app, he said. ParkMobile allows users to add multiple vehicles, but the app defaulted to his parking with the wrong vehicle, he alleged.

Haas, the Arrive spokesperson, said Vermonters can reach out to ParkMobile for technical issues or payment errors, although parking violations or towing should be appealed directly to the municipality.

“Our customer care team is ready to assist,” she said.

ParkMobile’s presence in Vermont is growing. The app first came to Burlington in 2015, followed by Barre in 2018, then Montpelier and Woodstock, Vt., in 2021. Rutland and St. Albans were the most recent additions in 2024.

That same year, Burlington removed some of its parking meters on Cherry Street and Pearl Street — meaning that in those locations, the pay-by-phone option is the only option.

Goulding said that ParkMobile-only parking is still less than 1% of all parking spots in Burlington, and that the city limits payments to ParkMobile only when there are construction or space constraints.

“It’s never been simpler to park downtown,” he said.

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.