Automation at its best

Here's an instance of automation I can't say I've ever seen in the States, but then, I don't get out much. You should be able to click on this image (and all the others on this blog) and call up a much larger version of the image; large enough, in this case, to read the instructions and warning.

Here the Canadian use of one-dollar coins ("Loonies" for the image of the loon minted on them) and two-dollar coins ("Toonies", which have polar bears) shows its worth in ease of automation. For an hour parking, you drop in a Loonie and receive a ticket, marked with the expiration time, which you place on the dash of the car. For longer than two hours, you put in three Loonies or a Loonie and a Toonie, receive a ticket and so on.

I suspect this is mostly an honour system (i.e. basically unenforced), but I didn't see a single vehicle without a ticket on the dash. And we did see some funky vehicles while on Vancouver Island!