IanO
Senior Member
Thoughts?
How can we drive more 'traffic' to these areas?
How can we drive more 'traffic' to these areas?
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Parking and our main streets - to pay or not to pay
- Thread starter IanO
- Start date
IanO
Senior Member
A few things to consider/read:
www.yorktonthisweek.com
Parking should be free
Charging for parking happens because of necessity. You pay a fee to park in a place because there is a premium on space, you put in parking meters and time rules because you want to get a rotation and free up space for other people.
www.yorktonthisweek.com
Montreal makes downtown parking free after 6 p.m. until 2021
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said on Twitter on Tuesday that the move is part of the city's economic recovery plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
montreal.ctvnews.ca
Platinum107
Senior Member
I can see, as a future (casual) driver, why free parking would be nice to have, but I think instituting it will go against encouraging people to use active transportation and transit. Free parking will give people more incentive to drive to these important dense areas when imo it should be the other way around if we wanna achieve certain goals in the City Plan. If people are having a hard time getting to these places without a car, then transit service should be improved.
kcantor
Senior Member
your survey misses the fact that pay parking is also used to ensure that what limited on street parking there is rotates regularly throughout the day.
IanO
Senior Member
Never assume, but that's usually a given.
Downtown saw issues with that last summer.
Downtown saw issues with that last summer.
kcantor
Senior Member
if that’s a given, doesn’t that make the rest of the offered choices redundant?
IanO
Senior Member
Parking is not a right, it's a privilege (huge issue in central neighbourhoods) and we could implement 2hr limits even if 'free'.
kcantor
Senior Member
i agree it’s a right and not a privilege but i don’t see a need for it to be free even for two hours.
archited
Senior Member
An app that accepts smart-phone payment for a time limit with fines automatically served if abused (also noted on your smart-phone app). I 
technology! I also love 
and 
technology! I also love and 
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
The only time free parking in downtown is vital for me is if I just need to make a 5 min stop to grab something, otherwise when I need to park for awhile then I just pay.
Solution as I've seen in other cities is to make public transportation far more convenient than it is to park, and I'm not referring to the cost of parking.
Solution as I've seen in other cities is to make public transportation far more convenient than it is to park, and I'm not referring to the cost of parking.
IanO
Senior Member
But that's where I think that we missed the boat when E-Park arrived.
We used to have a plethora of '15min max' zones at the end of blocks. They were demarcated with red meters and sometimes boxes and were great for popping in and out.
I'd love to see expanded short-term zones and do a flat $2 or 5 for Saturdays.
We used to have a plethora of '15min max' zones at the end of blocks. They were demarcated with red meters and sometimes boxes and were great for popping in and out.
I'd love to see expanded short-term zones and do a flat $2 or 5 for Saturdays.
IanO
Senior Member
Not quite Downtown, but close enough.
Yesterday we parked outside Structube on 112st north of Jasper. We went to pay and it said 'press the green button for 30mins FREE'. We did than with our license plate submitted and walked off.
We come back to a ticket.
I see the ticket guy and went over to ask him more about it.
Apparently this zone's E-Park machine does not always work and that 'they have been reporting it for months', but that this zone has been getting abused by parkers who are taking advantage of that fact and so he has been advised to ticket it and more often than normal.
Doing that instead of fixing the machine.
So not only is the machine not working properly, the 'system' is broken for repairing it, the authority is not providing grace even though they are providing 30mins FREE (IF the machine had worked properly) and so now I have to go fight a $50.00 ticket.
3/4 cars had tickets on this stretch.
We even went back to the machine to do a video of how it is misleading to the user for submission to the authority when we appeal this. The parking meter guy even admitted that it is misleading.
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Yesterday we parked outside Structube on 112st north of Jasper. We went to pay and it said 'press the green button for 30mins FREE'. We did than with our license plate submitted and walked off.
We come back to a ticket.
I see the ticket guy and went over to ask him more about it.
Apparently this zone's E-Park machine does not always work and that 'they have been reporting it for months', but that this zone has been getting abused by parkers who are taking advantage of that fact and so he has been advised to ticket it and more often than normal.
Doing that instead of fixing the machine.
So not only is the machine not working properly, the 'system' is broken for repairing it, the authority is not providing grace even though they are providing 30mins FREE (IF the machine had worked properly) and so now I have to go fight a $50.00 ticket.
3/4 cars had tickets on this stretch.
We even went back to the machine to do a video of how it is misleading to the user for submission to the authority when we appeal this. The parking meter guy even admitted that it is misleading.
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TAS
Senior Member
Brutal. And then we wonder why people don't enjoy shopping or coming to downtown/Oliver.
kcantor
Senior Member
^^
it's this whole "gotcha!" which is so frustrating when it comes to the city.
on the other hand, at least they're consistent - the parking patrol seems to be taking cues from the "where to put the radar cars" patrol - so they get you whether you're going or not going.
if only they were as diligent with their maintenance but i suppose maintenance isn't a direct revenue stream.
it's this whole "gotcha!" which is so frustrating when it comes to the city.
on the other hand, at least they're consistent - the parking patrol seems to be taking cues from the "where to put the radar cars" patrol - so they get you whether you're going or not going.
if only they were as diligent with their maintenance but i suppose maintenance isn't a direct revenue stream.
IanO
Senior Member
Called their ticket line to see about discussing it further.
Was told that I should have parked somewhere else if I was unsure if the E-Park machine was working or not, even though it was offering 30 mins free, accepted our license plate and told us to press the green confirmation button.
That they cannot review any evidence (we have video) and that it will have to be disputed via the courts system.
What an absolute was of time and resources for all parties involved.
Your machine accepted our plate, told us to press the green button to confirm, which we did and walked away.
I would not expect a confirmation receipt for 30mins free or to assume another step was required.
I wonder how many folks out there have been bitten by this.
Was told that I should have parked somewhere else if I was unsure if the E-Park machine was working or not, even though it was offering 30 mins free, accepted our license plate and told us to press the green confirmation button.
That they cannot review any evidence (we have video) and that it will have to be disputed via the courts system.
What an absolute was of time and resources for all parties involved.
Your machine accepted our plate, told us to press the green button to confirm, which we did and walked away.
I would not expect a confirmation receipt for 30mins free or to assume another step was required.
I wonder how many folks out there have been bitten by this.
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