The City of South Miami swaps parking meters for trees
VANCOUVER, CANADA, 11 June 2025 – The City of South Miami, Florida, today announces it has signed up to Meters for Trees, the multi-award-winning tree planting initiative from PayByPhone, the global leader in mobile parking payments.
Alfredo Riverol, Chief Financial Officer, the City of South Miami, says, “Meters for Trees is a meaningful and easy way for us to move toward an eco-friendlier future. Since removing all parking hardware in the City and encouraging mobile parking payments, Meters for Trees now ensures we are not only addressing air quality for South Miami but also supporting our own environmental goals through local tree planting.”
PayByPhone, one of the parking payments providers for the City of South Miami since 2011, across its 27 on- and off-street parking locations, first launched Meters for Trees in the UK in 2019, as part of its broader environmental campaigns including Green December. These initiatives help forward-thinking cities, universities, and parking operators reduce their costly parking hardware as they opt for a mobile app-based parking service. Over the past five years, PayByPhone’s environmental campaigns have collectively planted over 225,000 trees globally.
Meters for Trees supports the City of South Miami in furthering its sustainability initiatives through the removal of parking hardware and the planting of trees while at the same time saving costs.
The City of South Miami has already removed approximately 700 parking meters under Meters for Trees equating to 39 trees planted in Withlacoochee State Forest through PayByPhone’s partner, veritree, an organization that connects businesses with verified tree planting projects to
elevate global reforestation. PayByPhone will also contribute $500 towards helping plant trees locally. By removing payment hardware and planting trees, CO₂ is absorbed by each newly planted tree as it grows, directly benefitting the local environment through carbon footprint reduction as CO₂ is sequestered from the atmosphere.
Additionally, mobile parking payments reduce costly compliance issues for the City by eliminating the need for expensive readers in the payment hardware and the need for vehicles to collect cash and to service parking meters and stations. In the City of South Miami, this equates to approximately 200 miles per year.
Carmen Donnell, Managing Director North America for PayByPhone, says, “Welcoming the City of South Miami to our Meters for Trees campaign is a meaningful step toward building a greener tomorrow. We’re proud to work alongside partners who share our vision of sustainability and environmental stewardship, making it easy for parking operators to contribute to reforestation efforts.”
Meters for Trees is a multi-award-winning initiative, having won 12 international awards, including a Global Gold Award at the 2019 Green World Environment Awards in the Carbon Reduction and Local Authorities categories, the Green Champion Award in Carbon Reduction at the 2019 Green Apple Environment Awards, and the Environmental Initiative Award at the 2020 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards.
The City of South Miami joins The City of Coral Gables, Florida, The City of Olympia, Washington, and The City of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who joined Meters for Trees in March 2025.
For more information about Meters for Trees, please visit www.paybyphone.com/meters-for-trees.
###
ABOUT PAYBYPHONE
PayByPhone is a global leader in mobile parking payments. We simplify the journeys for millions of people through our smart, intuitive mobile payment technology and exciting features. We work with over 1,400 cities and operators across North America, the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland. More than 95 million drivers worldwide have trusted us with their payments to date. To discover how our products and services can elevate your driving experience, please visit www.paybyphone.com
PayByPhone. We simplify your journey, so you can focus on what matters most.
