Parking in Waterloo Region

[plam]

In practical terms, if we allow unlimited overnight parking except for "snow events", where would those people be able to put their cars during "snow events"?  And that's still assuming people get the message, are in town, and don't forget to move their cars.

Unlimited street parking isn't without its issues, either.

If you live in central Montreal and store your car on the street, and you want to leave your car in town, you need someone to move it twice per week for you anyway, since the street cleaners clean the streets that often. Usually it's alternating sides of a street. The street cleaning closures don't operate in the winter, but then you have to move your car whenever there's snow. In that case you have to move the car to a street that's not currently being cleaned. Sometimes the towtruck will move your car for you and not give you a ticket.

[mpd618]

Why are we talking about giving out yet another parking entitlement primarily to people living in suburban houses? How is that a benefit to the public as a whole?

[MidTowner]

Which parking entitlement are you talking about? Suburbanites tend to have wide lots and thus wide driveways, deep setbacks and thus long driveways, and garages. They don't need more street parking: it's urbanites who do.

[mpd618]

Which parking entitlement are you talking about? Suburbanites tend to have wide lots and thus wide driveways, deep setbacks and thus long driveways, and garages. They don't need more street parking: it's urbanites who do.

Substitute "single detached housing" for suburban, and my point remains the same. I don't see how allowing overnight on-street parking primarily for people with single detached houses solves any real problems for the public as a whole in this region. What it would do is further entrench the notion that space on a public street essentially belongs to the adjacent property owners.

[plam]

Wait a minute. I think Kitchener already officially doesn't enforce no-overnight parking as of 2014, except for the winter:

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4452...g-to-fall/

Isn't this basically what we're talking about? There's always Waterloo of course.

[MidTowner]

I was under the impression that they still would on a complaint basis. And, of course, the three-hour time limit still applies, even if not enforced between 11:00pm and 6:00am. Which means that, if you own a car but maybe don't want to use it daily to commute in peak-hour traffic, you're out of luck.

[plam]

I was under the impression that they still would on a complaint basis. And, of course, the three-hour time limit still applies, even if not enforced between 11:00pm and 6:00am. Which means that, if you own a car but maybe don't want to use it daily to commute in peak-hour traffic, you're out of luck.

Article sounds like they wouldn't respond to complaints about overnight parking. Still correct that you could get a ticket for non-overnight parking.

[numberguy]

Why are we talking about giving out yet another parking entitlement primarily to people living in suburban houses? How is that a benefit to the public as a whole?

Because they shovel the snow on the sidewalk, weed the grass, and cut the grass adjacent to aforementioned street. They are usually also more timely than the city/region/post office in ensuring that access to the fire hydrants and community mailboxes is not hindered by snow or weeds/tall grass.

IMHO, if someone's gonna shovel the public sidewalk, mow the grass, and weed it, they can park next to it. They (at least in my neighbourhood) do a better job than the city does.

[Canard]

This is indeed what they do, and it causes a different kind of problem: expensive units, high commercial rents, and a low price of parking that compels more people to drive - leading to more cars clogging our streets, polluting the air, and injuring pedestrians and cyclists (and drivers/passengers too).

This thread is about parking, not about pushing the anti-car agenda. I really have an issue with the above statement.

[mpd618]

This is indeed what they do, and it causes a different kind of problem: expensive units, high commercial rents, and a low price of parking that compels more people to drive - leading to more cars clogging our streets, polluting the air, and injuring pedestrians and cyclists (and drivers/passengers too).

This thread is about parking, not about pushing the anti-car agenda.  I really have an issue with the above statement.

Well, that settles it, I guess. Parking is all about the aesthetic and technical dimensions of certain spaces (of varied dimension and location) in which cars sometimes are found, and it has no consequences for anything. It's a wonder why anyone would get worked up about it!

[BuildingScout]

I just want to reiterate that one cannot forcefully push people from cars into non-existent transit alternatives. First we need to build out a reasonable transit grid. At this point people start taking it voluntarily, as proven by the tremendous increases in ridership since the introduction of the iXpress routes (translation: routes that do not stop every other block). Second, changing zoning laws so that people have more local services. The closest convenience store to my rather centrally located house in Waterloo was 25 minutes on foot. Third create walking and cycling paths that approximate straight as-the-crow-flies distance. Once all of this is in place, believe you me, insurance+gas+maintenance is enough for people to voluntarily forgo the second car and use public transit instead.

[mpd618]

I just want to reiterate that one cannot forcefully push people from cars into non-existent transit alternatives.

Who's talking about forcefully pushing people from cars?

[Markster]

City puts one-year reprieve on parking rate increases, everyone shocked that prices might go up again.

Waterloo studies potential parking rate hike

WATERLOO — Parking could get more expensive in Waterloo if councillors go ahead with a plan to recover the full costs from drivers.

"If you do all-in costing that's probably what you're going to end up with is a higher parking rate," Coun. Bob Mavin said.

Council raised monthly parking rates about 10 per cent each year between 2009 and 2014 after a report in 2008 recommending cost-recovery was endorsed. Hourly rates also increased during that period.

But a freeze was ordered for 2015 to allow for the study.

[...]

Mavin said he supports the study, but is skeptical about whether cost-recovery would work.

"I think it's good to know what the full cost of anything is before you determine what the fee will be, but the market will really drive what the fees will end up being," he said.

The city currently owns about 2,400 spaces within the boundary of the Uptown Business Improvement Area. About 235 are curb parking and the rest are in 16 off-street lots and the city parkade.

Most parking for shoppers and visitors in uptown is free. but time limited.

Monthly passes range between about $49 to $146, depending on the lot. Hourly parking rates range from $2.75 to $3.25 per hour.

In 2010, monthly passes ranged between about $22 and $99. Hourly parking was $2.25 per hour.

The city's parking and parking enforcement costs this year are about $1.3 million, according to budget documents. About $1.5 million is budgeted for parkade upgrades and parking expansion.

Mavin said he expects there will continue to be some draw on tax dollars to pay for the operation of city parking.

Mavin thinks that "the market will drive what the fees will end up being", but at the same time, supports tax subsidization of parking.  There is no "market", under this kind of distortion.

Bob Mavin is the Councillor for Ward 1, which lies entirely west of Fischer-Hallman. It is unsurprising that keeping parking in Uptown subsidized is a concern for him.

[BuildingScout]

Careful here. Public transit is subsidized too. If you come out swinging too strongly against subsidizing parking you are also making a case against subsidized public transit.

I for one, I'm glad that parking has nearly doubled in price over the last five years. Maybe we can hold on on parking rate increases until after the LRT opens?

[nms]

Parking is always going to be an issue. Even in large, urbanized metropolitan areas like London or Paris with good transit as well as good intercity transportation connections, parking is an issue. Unless we can wave a magic wand and make all of the cars, vans, taxes, buses, trucks and service vehicles that use our streets go away, we will always need a place to put them on either a short- or long-term basis.

To re-orient this discussion, parking fines/fees and parking garages are one way that car users contribute towards the cost of parking, just as transit fares are a way that transit users contribute to the cost of their services. Has there been any thought given to how the Cities and Region could increase their revenues to specifically support transportation related infrastructure (for pedestrians, cyclists, transit, and car users?). Asking the higher levels of government for support is spotty at best. What kind of "Made in Waterloo Region" solutions might there be?