Get ready to say goodbye to free Sunday parking on Victoria鈥檚 streets. The children of the city thank you for your contribution to their free bus passes.
A city committee voted unanimously to start charging for street parking on Sundays, as of May, and use the money to give free bus passes to city residents age six to 18. Parkades will still be free on Sundays. Council doesn鈥檛 know how much revenue it will bring in, but Mayor Lisa Helps says $600,000 a year is a conservative estimate.
As Saturday parking brings in $1 million, she might be right.
Money is only part of the rationale. Businesses have complained that too many people, including their employees, are parking all day. That clogs up the street parking that could be used by customers.
The bus-pass idea still has a lot of wrinkles that have to be ironed out. Council isn鈥檛 sure how many eligible children live in the city, and talks with sa国际传媒 Transit have been preliminary. Committing to a plan when we don鈥檛 know the number of users is a risky proposition.
The idea is to distribute the passes through the school board at the beginning of each school year. That will present challenges for the Greater Victoria School District, as it covers a larger area than the city does.
There are lots of reasons to charge for Sunday parking and lots of reasons for free bus passes, but connecting the two is just a way to make drivers feel better.
Still, while many bemoan city council鈥檚 penchant for social engineering, training a new generation to love the bus will pay off in the long run.
