5619 replies to this topic

[Ms. B. Havin]

I'd be more interested in seeing similar sized/ranked cities to Victoria. How do we compare to Halifax for instance?

Halifax is cited (see the PDF I linked to, and I pointed out a comparison stat re. waitlists -- Halifax 75%, Victoria 100%).

[Holden West]

We're cheaper than Halifax, $10 a day compared to their $15. I've never been to Halifax but I can't imagine them having more parkades and surface lots than we do.

[Icebergalley]

I'd be more interested in seeing similar sized/ranked cities to Victoria. How do we compare to Halifax for instance?

Halifax is cited (see the PDF I linked to, and I pointed out a comparison stat re. waitlists -- Halifax 75%, Victoria 100%).

I'm confused about that wait list thing, I looked at the report and what does it mean to say when it indicates # of parking garages = 0. ?????

[Holden West]

I think that's tied to the "additional garages added" column. No new garages = no new spaces.

[aastra]

These numbers don't mean much if we don't know what their definition of CBD is. So how much of downtown Victoria does that include?

[zoomer]

Interesting article in the [url=http://www.vicnews.com/:3fa9d]Victoria News[/url:3fa9d] today:

City ponders parking changes

By Brennan Clarke
News staff

May 30 2007

Should downtown parking be cheap and plentiful to encourage tourists and shoppers to stay longer and come back more often?

Or should the City of Victoria jack-up prices and spend the extra profits on new spaces and perhaps encourage alternative modes of transportation?

A recent parking study commissioned by the city traffic department suggests that the latter is the way of the future for hourly and daily parking rates downtown.

The report, discussed at a recent committee-of-the-whole meeting, suggests increasing the hourly and daily parking rates to fund both the construction of new parkades and help achieve “other land use and transportation objectives for the downtown area.”

The downtown core’s “effective parking supply of 9,200 stalls” is between 200 and 500 stalls short of meeting current demand. With the long-term potential for more than 12 million square feet of new office space downtown, demand is expected to increase sharply over the next 20 years, the report says.

Coun. Dean Fortin was among those who expressed concern about increasing fees to build more parking lots at the expense of fostering green alternatives.

“Basically we want to increase fees to build more parking,” Fortin said. “I’d rather see the increase in fees directed to more alternatives.”

However, deputy transportation director Peter Sparanese pointed out that city-owned parkades need an estimated $8.8 million worth of upgrades, including substantial “safety and security” improvements in some locations.

Another factor behind the need to increase fees is a proposal to replace the 200-stall Centennial Square with a 600 stall version as part of an upcoming major redevelopment of the square.

The study notes that Victoria’s parking rates are ‘extremely low when compared with private operators and other communities and says council may “wish to consider slight increases” to the monthly parking rates and allocate short-term parking in city parkades.

“We’re well below market rate for what we’re charging,” Sparanese said.

Coun. Helen Hughes supported an increase in parking rates as long as it doesn’t discourage people from coming downtown.

“The main thing is we shouldn’t destroy what we have by making it too expensive,” she said.

The parking assessment study will be incorporated into an updated Parking Strategy currently being developed by the transportation department.

Parking particulars

• Victoria’s downtown core has about 9,200 parking spaces; 35 per cent are owned and operated by the city.

• The city’s parking system collected $12.5 million in 2006 but cost just $5 million to operate, leaving a net profit of $7.5 million.

• Revenues have increased seven per cent per year since 2003.

• Short-term parking – two hours or less – makes up 40 per cent of demand.

• Over the long term, office retail, hotel and residential floor space downtown is expected to increase by 9.2 million to 12.6 million square feet.

• Current rates are $1.50 an hour for on-street parking and 50 cents to $2 an hour for off-street parking.

Ok, I have trouble believing the second to last stat.. is it really saying that floor space downtown will increase from 3.4 million to 12.6?! Just how long term is this? How can this be accommodated under the current density restrictions in place?

The city should sell off many of it's current parkades in exchange for a X number of underground parking stalls, and allow residential/office towers on the sites in exchange. This would also raise additional tax dollars from residents and businesses. Currently these parkades are unattractive dead zones, breaking up otherwise healthy city blocks. Some exceptions of course, such as the parkade on Broughton at Broad, and of course we would need to be sensitive about height in old town.

[aastra]

How can this be accommodated under the current density restrictions in place?

I might ask how it can be accommodated at all. I wasn't aware of any plan to demolish the old town and replace it with wall-to-wall 10 story buildings.

[G-Man]

Anyone know what percentage of tourists drive here vs other methods of travel?

[Icebergalley]

Stand alone parking studies are frightening...

Just think.. a Downtown Plan is being "crafted". Is this a part or it...

Does the Coriolis work give some answers on potential downtown floor space?

The powers that decide on this should be very careful to determine if they are working on a short term plan.. an infrastructure task etc..

[Holden West]

A story on A-Channel tonight documented the tragic plight of construction workers at sites like "The Falls" and "Chelsea" who are forced to walk up to three blocks because they can't find street parking next to the job site.

[pardon me...I have to stop typing so I can wipe the tears from my eyes]

One helpless victim revealed how he got a ticket for overstaying the time limit even though the commissionaires know they'll be there every day for two years!

[I have to stop again]

Isn't there anything we can do for these innocent victims?

[G-Man]

Are you serious? What is wrong with these people. Their is the Broughton Parkade the Library parkade and the Conference Centre parkade and since the workers start so much earlier then everyone else they would have worries finding a spot.

[VicHockeyFan]

Of course, I have no sympathy.

But the main gripe surely is that these guys bring their own tools to the site, and the only safe place to store them when they are not in sight is in their vehicle - most use their vehicle as their main storage base /lunch room when on a job site.

This certainly isn't newsworthy though. I'm pretty sure many construction workers in NYC ride the subweay to the jobsite with tools in tow.

[Holden West]

In all seriousness, you are correct. And that is one of the reasons it's so hard keeping homeless/unemployed/poor people in the construction trade is a lack of a secure place to lock away their gear at all times.

[aastra]

So now walking a few blocks in downtown Victoria is the equivalent of an unbearable long march?

Yesterday we were saying Victoria was the most walkable place on earth.

[gumgum]

I takes me 20 minutes to walk from Cook St Village to downtown. That's about ten blocks. I do it everyday. *sniff*
Sometimes it's hot and I sweat a bit. Some time it's...it's RAINING! :smt010

Seriously, 3 blocks. That's like 5 minutes of walking.

[Holden West]

http://aycu13.websho... ... 223_rs.jpg

[aastra]

Obviously it's a bit different if you've got heavy stuff to load and unload, but then I'd expect it wouldn't be too difficult to set up some sort of procedure for this at the construction site. Unload, go park, come back.

[VicHockeyFan]

Today in Gaza, they are doing 60ft in about 3.8 seconds, between gunfire rounds.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ideally, the city will install 300 to 350 dispensers situated about seven steps apart.

Huh? I take it they mean seven stalls or spots apart.



OFF WITH THEIR HEADS

Andrea Lavigne/News staff

Ismo Husu, acting manager of parking services, says ticket dispensers will eventually replace downtown parking meters.
By Andrea Lavigne
News staff

Jun 20 2007

Parking meters will soon be extinct in Victoria

On any given day of the work week, motorists have a 10 per cent chance of finding free parking.

About 200 of the city of Victoria’s 1,900 paid spots have meters that are out of commission.

“But it fluctuates,” said Ismo Husu, acting manager of parking services. “The first two weeks of May just got a little crazy.”

The city experienced a wave of meter thefts in May.

“It’s cyclical,” said Sgt. Grant Hamilton of the Victoria police department. “This becomes the M.O. of some people until they caught.”

Victoria police arrested half a dozen individuals last month in conjunction with meter theft.

On average, a meter brings in about $7.50 per day. Thieves jack open the meters with a make-shift key or tool. Typically, “beheaded meters” are the ones taken away by the city to be fixed or replaced, which costs about $230, a cost Husu hopes will soon go away.

“There’s a chance that even in six months the single meter heads will be gone,” he said.

The city recently unveiled its new parking strategy, which includes a $5-million plan to replace the meters with ticket dispensers similar to the ones currently in use on Broad Street.

Ideally, the city will install 300 to 350 dispensers situated about seven steps apart.

About 20 dispensers could be planted in the next couple of months “to get people used to the idea,” Husu said.

Replacing the meter heads could result in a 10 per cent increase in the number of parking spaces, as the metered spaces are designed to accommodate large vehicles.

But the new parking strategy doesn’t come without a price.

The city is raising parking meter rates to $2 an hour from $1.50. Parkade rates are going up on a graduated basis to $1 for the first hour and $2 for each additional hour.

The hike is long overdue, Husu said.

Parkade rates were increased a year ago after 10 years of static rates.

Street parking rates haven’t increased since 2001 and are still below other comparable cities.

In Vancouver, meters charge $5 per hour, Calgary meters cost $4 per hour and Ottawa charges $2.50 per hour.

In 2006, the city generated $12.5 million in revenues from the parking system and recorded $5 million in expenditures.

The new rates should generate about $3 million more in revenues to the city, which will go toward a parking and transportation reserve fund.

The new parking strategy includes making security improvements and visual upgrades to parkades, enhanced bike storage and street bike locks, and more parking for small vehicles and persons with disabilities.

[Holden West]

Huh? I take it they mean seven stalls or spots apart.

Be easy on the Vic News. It's not like they have the extensive and strict fact-checking departments like The Martlet or The Pennysaver.