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Parking in Waterloo Region
(10-28-2017, 09:51 AM)JoeKW Wrote: 1) The City's parking rates are already the highest in the market;
2) Increasing rates further will only reduce market share as competitor pricing has remained flat;

There's a waiting list for all city lots in the downtown core and some of them are as long as 2 years.  Clearly, the spots are underpriced.

There is a waiting list for surface lots, but not for the parking garages.
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I've never heard of a waiting list for a parking lot. How does that even work?

Every parking lot I've ever gone to you just go in... and if there's a spot, you park in it and pay, and if not, you can't park there. What am I missing?
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(10-28-2017, 12:44 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:
(10-28-2017, 11:09 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: So frustrating in the face of continued rate hikes on transit.

Also doesn’t make sense. How can there both be a waiting list and their lots are the most expensive? Wouldn’t their competitors (private businesses) have raised their rates? If it’s true that there is a waiting list they should raise their rates until the waiting list disappears. This is one way in which government actually should operate (more) like a business.

Of course, this is in reference to monthly long term passes, not short term parking.  

There is in fact, no private companies that I know of in Kitchener which offer competing services.  Some private companies offer parking for their employees, but nobody offers long term parking for other people.  In theory, if the value of such a service was high enough a private operator could provide it, but that isn't the case as of now.
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The waiting lists are for monthly passes-> http://app.kitchener.ca/parking/es_default.aspx (Scroll down)

The garages are a bit easier to get into because they cost a lot more.
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(10-28-2017, 07:12 PM)JoeKW Wrote: The waiting lists are for monthly passes-> http://app.kitchener.ca/parking/es_default.aspx (Scroll down)

The garages are a bit easier to get into because they cost a lot more.

Not really a LOT more -- $155 vs $134 per month.  Considering it's covered parking it's quite a reasonable difference, I think.

But for many people the surface lots are closer to their workplaces, so they are preferable for that reason.
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I'll pay extra to not have to clean my car off in the winter.
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(10-28-2017, 07:25 PM)tomh009 Wrote: But for many people the surface lots are closer to their workplaces, so they are preferable for that reason.

Yeah, that's going to be the main driving factor. The surface lots are smaller and more numerous, so they will usually be closer to your home/destination.

But yeah, it makes no sense that they have long waitlists for lots. If a lot is in that much demand, they should be increasing the price. An in-demand surface lot should cost more than a parking garage if it's really that popular.
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(10-28-2017, 12:44 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:
(10-28-2017, 11:09 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: So frustrating in the face of continued rate hikes on transit.

Also doesn’t make sense. How can there both be a waiting list and their lots are the most expensive? Wouldn’t their competitors (private businesses) have raised their rates? If it’s true that there is a waiting list they should raise their rates until the waiting list disappears. This is one way in which government actually should operate (more) like a business.

Their "competition" are churches and residential buildings that rent out their spots during the day.  (My wife pays for one of these spots, and its a lot cheaper than the city lot next door).  These spaces also have long waiting lists (She was on the list for 4 years, then sub-let a space for 2 before getting her current spot).

These spaces are sold for a little extra cash, but they are unlikely to monitor rates elsewhere as it's not a business.

Coke
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I wonder if these places with "extra cash" spaces would benefit from a service (offered by the Region or private) that managed them by reading the market landscape, providing discoverability, monitoring and waitlist services.. that sort of thing.

If the Region/Cities wanted to get into this, though, it would involve discussions around what role Parking should play around here. Is it a public good like other bits of transportation infrastructure and needs only be managed for capacity to lubricate economic activity, or is it an economic activity in itself that should be optimized for income?
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(10-30-2017, 11:32 AM)chutten Wrote: I wonder if these places with "extra cash" spaces would benefit from a service (offered by the Region or private) that managed them by reading the market landscape, providing discoverability, monitoring and waitlist services.. that sort of thing.

If the Region/Cities wanted to get into this, though, it would involve discussions around what role Parking should play around here. Is it a public good like other bits of transportation infrastructure and needs only be managed for capacity to lubricate economic activity, or is it an economic activity in itself that should be optimized for income?

I will make an assumption that these places likely don't declare this extra income, and therefore having it managed by a government wouldn't be favourable.  (My wife doesn't get receipts, and its kind of funny as she got the lots with waitlists list when she worked at CRA  LOL)

Coke
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If parking is an important issue, the Region/Cities could mandate that all 'extra cash' spaces must be managed by a central parking authority, with gains realized as credits against property taxes.

I guess parking just isn't important, then.
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(10-30-2017, 11:39 AM)Coke6pk Wrote:
(10-30-2017, 11:32 AM)chutten Wrote: I wonder if these places with "extra cash" spaces would benefit from a service (offered by the Region or private) that managed them by reading the market landscape, providing discoverability, monitoring and waitlist services.. that sort of thing.

If the Region/Cities wanted to get into this, though, it would involve discussions around what role Parking should play around here. Is it a public good like other bits of transportation infrastructure and needs only be managed for capacity to lubricate economic activity, or is it an economic activity in itself that should be optimized for income?

I will make an assumption that these places likely don't declare this extra income, and therefore having it managed by a government wouldn't be favourable.  (My wife doesn't get receipts, and its kind of funny as she got the lots with waitlists list when she worked at CRA  LOL)

Coke

Churches don't pay income tax ... but I do expect they do provide receipts when necessary anyway, such as when a company rents a block of parking spots for its employees.
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@tomh, Yes, the churches are likely more "above board", I was referring to rental of an individual's parking space during the day.

Coke
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(10-30-2017, 11:51 AM)chutten Wrote: If parking is an important issue, the Region/Cities could mandate that all 'extra cash' spaces must be managed by a central parking authority, with gains realized as credits against property taxes.

I don't think that we really need the city to take over all parking. (what's the difference between "extra cash" parking, and a business that rents out its parking?)

We just need the city to price parking according to demand.
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A while back there was a discussion on here about a potential parking garage in the Charles St/Water St area.
An article that is talking about budgeting for such a project if required in the future is linked below :

https://www.google.ca/url?q=https://www....ARg3RVPEfT
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