Victoria is set to launch a comprehensive review of parking, but no matter the outcome, someone will still be angry. Parking complaints are as iconic to Victoria as the Empress hotel, the Inner Harbour and hanging flower baskets. Mayor Dean Fortin believes it鈥檚 the city service that generates the most comment.
And yet, parking in downtown Victoria isn鈥檛 really that bad.
Maybe people have seen too many movies where characters pulling up in front of their destinations always find a parking place. Real life carries no such guarantee, but with five city parkades, four parking lots and 2,000 metered spaces 鈥� plus privately owned parking lots and parking provided by businesses 鈥� it鈥檚 usually not difficult to find a parking place within a few blocks of a chosen destination in Victoria.
And Victoria has made improvements in recent years. Changing the limit to 90 minutes from 60 minutes makes it easier to drive downtown for lunch. The electronic pay stations take credit cards, and you don鈥檛 have to return to your car to plug the meter 鈥� you can do it from any pay station. Late-night partiers can park their cars and load up the meter with credit. It kicks in the next morning, giving people time to pick up their cars when they are sober.
Prices are reasonable compared to other centres. A 2011 survey showed Victoria ranking seventh in parking costs in 12 major Canadian cities. It costs more than twice as much to park in Calgary, for example.
Parking generated $15.6 million for Victoria in 2012, about half of which went to pay for other city services. The review was sparked in part because parking revenues in 2012 fell $300,000 short of projections. It鈥檚 easy to see why city councillors would look at the relatively low rates and see potential to boost revenues.
Therein lie the hazardous waters sailed by sa国际传媒 Ferries 鈥� if you raise the rates to compensate for declining traffic, you risk losing even more customers and revenues continue to drop. The city should avoid getting caught in that whirlpool.
Downtown businesses are at a disadvantage compared to suburban malls and shopping plazas, which offer free parking. It鈥檚 not free, actually 鈥� the cost is included in the rent paid by tenants, who pass that cost on to customers. Nevertheless, it gives those businesses an edge over ones in the downtown core.
Free evening street parking helps level the playing field a bit, but as Coun. Shellie Gudgeon notes, many downtown workers on evening shifts park their cars on the street at 5 p.m., taking up spaces that could have been used by customers. That鈥檚 a self-defeating habit employers should address, perhaps by encouraging or enabling employees to use parkades.
The revenue shortfall would be more than covered if the city could collect fines for outstanding tickets, which amount to more than $1 million a year. Finding a way to collect outstanding fines is on the list.
If you have an outstanding speeding ticket, you can鈥檛 renew your driver鈥檚 licence until the fine is paid. Victoria and Vancouver have both asked the sa国际传媒 government to include municipal-bylaw fines in that process, but the province doesn鈥檛 want the Insurance Corp. of sa国际传媒 to be collecting for municipalities. Perhaps it鈥檚 time to revisit that issue.
According to the city website, 鈥渙ur goal is to create an efficient and positive parking experience for all residents, businesses, visitors and shoppers.鈥� While revenue is important, that goal should not be overlooked.
Victoria has a decent parking system, but that doesn鈥檛 mean it can鈥檛 be improved.
Regardless of what the review produces, though, people will still complain about parking. It鈥檚 part of Victoria鈥檚 nature.
