Cheaper downtown parking awaits cleaner tour buses

Victoria is introducing an incentive-based parking fee system that will reward tour bus companies for reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The aim is to improve tourism, improve the emissions footprint of each vehicle and also improve community health and well-being, said Fraser Work, city director of engineering.

Coun. Jeremy Loveday welcomed the changes, saying that as recently as last summer while sitting at a café he was forced to flee fumes from a tourist bus.

“A tour bus pulled up and coughed out thick black smoke so putrid that me and the person I was sitting next to had to get up and walk away from the table to get a deep breath,” Loveday said.

“We’re talking about the impact that might have on tourists and locals. I think it’s not the image we want to be sending to the world either.”

The city leases four parking stands near the Inner Harbour on Government and Belleville streets to tour bus companies that are used by about 105 vehicles from Wilson’s, Grayline, CVS and Rolling Barrel. The companies use the stands to park vehicles, load and unload passengers and from the adjacent sidewalk sell tickets for sightseeing tours.

Under the new fee structure, the city will set the minimum acceptable emissions standard and a targeted emissions performance for a two-year period.

Between 2018 and 2020, any bus utilizing a city stand must meet the 1998 U.S. EPA emissions standard. For 2020-2022, the minimum standard is 2004 EPA emissions. For 2022-2024, the minimum is 2010 EPA emissions and the target is zero emissions.

But if in 2018-2020, half of a company’s registered vehicles meet or exceed the targeted minimum for the next time block (2020-2022) they would qualify for a 50 per cent reduction in monthly fees. If half of the registered fleet achieves two steps above the current year emissions target, then access to the stands is free.

That would be a substantial saving. The annual cost of one of the stands is $90,700.

Work told councillors the plan should also translate into a reduction in noise from buses.

“Normally with the technology that’s in these heavy-duty vehicles when you have improved emissions you also get improved noise because what it does is it controls the combustion in such a way that the combustion event which goes with a big bang inside of each cylinder is actually reduced and softened,” he said.

“It’s very logical. It makes very good sense,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.

According to city staff, in 2017 about 30 per cent of the 105 or so buses using the city stands were built to pre-1998 standards. Most of the worst offenders are already off the road, city staff say.

A staff report notes that this year only seven vehicles in use by companies leasing the spaces will be older than 2004, without a single bus built to pre-1998 emission standards. Next year the companies plan to eliminate pre-2004 vehicles.

City staff say a number of other tour companies have expressed interest in securing city parking space and they may issue a request for proposals to determine interest, and may recommend increasing the number of zones and alternate sites.

Staff reported they continue to have issues with Big Bus Victoria which operates a hop-on and hopoff narrated sightseeing tour through Victoria and Oak Bay, parking for extended periods in the 800-block of Government Street, exceeding the threeminute limit. They plan steppedup enforcement.

Meanwhile, councillors decided to extend the horsedrawn carriage parking stands for five years.