Parking in Waterloo Region

[BuildingScout]

I know that, for a lot of people, the answer is always "build more parking." At least sometimes, that's not possible or desireable. Or cost-efficient.

I actually do think that the Kitchener Market is different from the Conestoga Mall, though. It's located downtown, not on the periphery. It's well-served by public transit. It is publically-owned. I'm not sure what it's performance metrics include, but I don't think an appropriate policy would be them to pursue free parking at all costs.

I think people exaggerate how bad it gets. As I said about half of the time I get free parking, the other half I find paid parking or free parking on the street parking quickly enough.

Second, I'm a big advocate in general of (1) public transit and (2) drivers paying upfront a bigger share of the infrastructure they use.

However this doesn't mean I blindly support any action in this regard. I've criticized here, for example, suburban bus routes as being counterproductive and similarly I have also explained why a trip to the market with the entailing heavy grocery load isn't an ideal candidate for a bus trip.