5619 replies to this topic

[Ginger Snap]

Isn't that nice of them.


My main concerns with parking are safety and security of both myself and my vehicle. Cleanliness of the parkade comes into play too as I would rather not step out of my car and into a mixture of cigarette butts, urine and god only knows what else.

Not really sure what the problem is with not issuing tickets over the Christmas holidays. Yes, there may be concerns with downtown parkades, but that doesn't mean the courtesy tickets are a bad idea. Just a separate one.

[Coreyburger]

This is exactly the time to be handing out tickets. There is increased demand for parking and unless pricing is used and inforced, congestion will increase.

[Caramia]

From A-Channel
http://www.atv.ca/vi...news_66893.aspx

Victoria Ready To Turf Parking Meters
VICTORIA - Parking meters: We use them every day, but we won't be sad to see them go. The meters on either side of the Legislature will be gone by the beginning of March. "We're rolling out our new pay-by-stall system and will be doing a testing period for the month of March," says Katie Josephson with the City of Victoria.
The new machines will be similar to the ones on Broad Street downtown, except they won't print out tickets. Instead, your parking spot will be numbered, and you'll simply tell the machine which spot you're in, and then top it up. Eventually, when the machines are installed all over town, you'll be able to add more time to your spot from any machine instead of returning to your car.

That means no more racing back to your vehicle plug the meter - just to the nearest pay station. The city says eventually you'll be able to extend your spot by cell phone.

The Downtown Victoria Business Association says the change is for the better. "The pay stations bring new technology. Meters are outmoded, now they're being replaced throughout North America," says the DVBA's Ken Kelly.

Once the trial period near the Legislature ends in April, the pay stations will be appearing all over the city. The transition comes at a cost of $3.5-million. The machines will double a meter's 5-7 year lifespan, and will be much more secure. "It's easy to knock the heads off the top, we're missing 400 right now, that's a big loss of revenue," adds Josephson.

But removing the meters will mean fewer places for cyclists to lock their bikes. With racks at a premium, cyclists downtown have to get crafty.

City council will vote Thursday on installing $10,000 worth of new racks to compensate for the loss of meter poles.

[VicHockeyFan]

..so, does this mean "repeat metering" is now allowed? Now you are supposed to move you car off the entire block and find another spot, not plug more money in the meter.

[Rob Randall]

I was confused too. I assumed street parkers traded time for convenience and that the City encouraged quick turnover on the street for the benefit of short-term users. I hope this doesn't backfire by emptying out the parkade and clogging up the streets. The worst that would happen is workers hogging the street spaces all day while the short term visitors end up in the parkades.

But it's good to get rid of the meters. On a few occasions I've seen the remains of smashed meters outside my building on Fort.

[gumgum]

I've been reaping the rewards of headless meters for the past couple of months. I'm going to miss them.

[Linear Thinker]

Not a great start to this project:
Cable strike leaves James Bay without phone, Internet







Times ColonistFebruary 19, 2009



About 300 homes and small businesses in James Bay have been without phone or Internet since Tuesday after City of Victoria workers struck underground cables with a jackhammer. Work crews were jackhammering a sidewalk in the 500 block of Superior Street when the equipment pierced through a concrete conduit and damaged a length of cable, said Telus spokesman Shawn Hall. Telus and city crews excavated the site and will replace the cable. Work was scheduled to be completed yesterday afternoon, but the damage was more extensive than originally thought, Hall said. Service should be restored by late afternoon today, he said. "We're going to have crews there around the clock ," he said.
© Copyright © The Victoria Times Colonist

[yodsaker]

I've been reaping the rewards of headless meters for the past couple of months. I'm going to miss them.

Samesame me and now I understand where the headless meters came from. Somehow I knew it wasn't the city giving motorists a break.

[spanky123]

Just means that the crooks will now empty out the pay stations instead of the meters. At least then you will have a whole block of free parking instead of just a few meters here and there!

[VicHockeyFan]

Just means that the crooks will now empty out the pay stations instead of the meters. At least then you will have a whole block of free parking instead of just a few meters here and there!

When they are linked up, they can have a mechanism that alerts an alarm company, City Hall or the police directly about substantial tampering so police can be dispatched before the thieves can get very far into a smash and grab or removal.

The problem with the normal meters is that the head is pretty easily detached, it's light, so it's a quick smash and run. Not so with these bigger machines.

Robins has very little problems with it's ticket machines, in terms of vandalism, I'm told.

[spanky123]

No doubt that the parking stations are touted as being more resistant to theft.

I think that the crooks start off with the low hanging fruit (meters) and then simply migrate as the need arises (ie meters replaced).

I guess we will see but I hope that you are right. At $8K a pop the parking stations will get expensive to replace very quickly.

[G-Man]

I don't think city workers ever choose meter spots over parkades, why would they? Meters are more expensive.

[VicHockeyFan]

I don't think city workers ever choose meter spots over parkades, why would they? Meters are more expensive.

Why do folks choose 7-11 over Thrifty's? Convenience, not price. I think we are talking about part-time retail/hospitality folks more than full-time government workers etc.

[spanky123]

Speaking as someone who works downtown, I can't count how many times my coworkers use meters simply because they are screaming into work 1 minute before they are supposed to start and don't have time to go to a parkade.

Watching them it has become an art. They know the commissionaire shirts and routines and exactly how long they can park without paying before someone comes by to ticket them!

[G-Man]

^ You are talking about unmetered time-limited spots.

[aastra]

At least then you will have a whole block of free parking instead of just a few meters...

Methinks the broken/missing meter excuse would go out the window if you could in fact pay for your spot from any other terminal.

Also, won't these machines accept credit cards and/or debit?

[dt_electric]

I hate the meters. I would think free 1-hour enforced parking would offer enough revenue to be viable. There's so many government services that can't feasibly be done elsewhere if you are a Victoria resident.

[Holden West]

The other day near Tillicum and Burnside I spot a white sedan with a blacked out rear passenger window. A circle cut into the tint revealed an LED strobe. My first thought was that it was a Google car capturing images for Google Street View but the logo on the car said it was a new parking patrol company. I recalled a few days earlier spotting a car in the Broughton St. parking lot with a boot clamp on the wheel which was the first time I can recall one being used in Victoria.

[concorde]

I recalled a few days earlier spotting a car in the Broughton St. parking lot with a boot clamp on the wheel which was the first time I can recall one being used in Victoria.

I saw a boot installed on several vehicles on a Robbins lot several months ago, its obviously becoming the new standard.

It really doesn't matter to me, I rarely shop or do business downtown anymore due to the added expense of parking. City council needs to ask themselves why would customers come downtown, pay $2/hr to park, when people can drive 5-10 min outside of town and park all day at the malls. The only reason I go downtown is if I have to.

[G-Man]

^ maybe because downtown is nice. Of course i don't drive downtown usually, as it is much more pleasant to walk or take the bus.