At the end of 2013, parking metres in The Hague will only accept payment for on-street parking via bank card and paying with coins will no longer be possible. The Municipality of The Hague will outfit all on-street ticket dispensers in the city with bank card readers, which is expected to facilitate parking in paid parking zones.
Deputy Mayor Peter Smith explains the move thusly, "People will no longer have to fumble around for coins or worse, discover that they haven't got any loose change and can't pay." Furthermore, eliminating payment with coins should deter criminals who break metres open for the money, causing huge amounts of damage in the process.
As older metres are replaced with bank card-only metres, the number of metres in the city will be reduced. Some will be taken out of service permanently on account of being outdated, but it is expected that fewer metres will be necessary anyway due to the advent of payment alternatives such as payment by phone and mobile app parking.
Upon completion of the project the number of metres will remain high in the city centre, Scheveningen, and in shopping streets, but the number of metres will be reduced in residential areas where most car owners possess parking permits.