Boston's parking meters took in $23.1 million last year, the least since 2021, city records show, as Durkan pushes for more ticket officers

Two parking items on the City Council's Nov. 4 agenda give residents a fresh look at a part of city life that drivers pay for and pedestrians and cyclists often complain about (agenda). One is a 10-year record of parking meter revenue, sent in answer to a council request from June. The other is a resolution calling on the city to hire more parking enforcement officers.

What the meter records show

City Councilor Ed Flynn asked in June, under Section 17F of the city charter, for the number of parking meters in Boston and the revenue they generate (docket 1108). The council passed it June 3, 8-0, with five councilors not present. The mayor's response, dated Nov. 2 and filed as docket 2090, says that "to the extent the records you requested exist," they are attached. That is 152 days after the vote.

The attached revenue table shows, by fiscal year:

• FY2018: $24.9 million
• FY2021: $21.6 million, the lowest year in the table
• FY2023: $26.6 million, the peak of the decade
• FY2025: $24.8 million
• FY2026: $23.1 million, the lowest since FY2021
• FY2027 so far: $6.4 million

Over that stretch, how people pay has changed. Coins made up 18% of meter revenue in FY2018 and 6% in FY2026. Mobile payments through the ParkBoston app rose from 42% to 56%. The documents we reviewed give revenue and transaction counts but not a count of meters, which was the first thing Flynn asked for.

The enforcement resolution

City Councilor Sharon Durkan filed a resolution urging the city to hire more parking enforcement officers (docket 2108). It cites the Oct. 22 Planning, Development and Transportation Committee hearing on blocked bike lanes and crosswalks, where, according to the resolution, city officials said:

• the Transportation Department has 139 parking enforcement officers, its highest staffing in nearly 10 years;
• tickets issued are up 9% in fiscal 2027.

The resolution also says:

• parking enforcement is regularly the most-reported issue to Boston 311, with more than 59,000 reports in 2025 and more than 63,000 in 2024;
• parking enforcement brought the city $60 million in revenue in fiscal 2026.

Our Oct. 24 preview covered the issues that hearing took up.

What our records add

The hiring has been rising. At a May 4 Ways and Means budget hearing, city officials said the city had hired a record 135 parking enforcement officers (watch at 11:42). Durkan's resolution puts the figure at 139 now.

Councilors have asked for this before. During the June 10 budget debate, City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata said councilors hear often from constituents who want more enforcement officers (watch at 5:03:41).

Fines and meters are separate money. The $60 million cited in the resolution is enforcement revenue. The $23.1 million above is what drivers paid at meters. By those figures, the city took in more than twice as much from parking enforcement as from meters in fiscal 2026.

A board vote on parking this week. The city's Air Pollution Control Commission meets Wednesday on possible changes to the parking freeze rules downtown, in South Boston and in East Boston (our story).

What's next

A 17F response is normally placed on file. Durkan's resolution can be adopted Wednesday under a suspension of the rules unless a councilor objects, in which case it goes to committee. A resolution urges the administration to act but does not fund new positions. That would come through the budget, which the council takes up again in the spring.