Victoria’s friendlier parking cuts revenue by $400,000
Victoria’s kinder, gentler parking regime has resulted in a dramatic drop in parking revenue largely because fewer tickets are being written.
Parking revenues for 2015 are expected to be about $400,000 less than what had been anticipated for the year, says a report to councillors.
“I guess it’s an unintended consequence of our success in getting more people downtown,” said Mayor Lisa Helps, adding that even with the drop in revenue the numbers are probably “good news.”
Last year, the city introduced a suite of parking changes designed to entice motorists into parkades, freeing up on-street parking in the process. While parkades are seeing higher than expected use, the “unintended consequence” has been a significant drop in the number of tickets issued.
“Ultimately, I think it’s good news. We should never be depending on parking fine revenue for city operations,” Helps said.
“If we continue to grow our downtown economy, fill those retail vacancies, fill those office vacancies, [then] we’ll have revenue because there will be more business going on in Victoria.”
Coun. Geoff Young said the drop in revenue “cuts both ways.”
“It is an issue for us in that we have to find the revenue somewhere else but certainly I want people to have a good experience when they drive downtown,” he said.
The city has long been trying to shed its reputation for having vigilant commissionaires ready to pounce the moment time on a parking space expires.
The number of tickets issued has been decreasing for the past three years, the report says, from 175,000 in 2013, to 158,000 in 2014 and an estimated 130,000 in 2015. That’s meant an associated drop in revenue from $4.6 million in 2013 to a projected $3.15 million this year.
The report says the fewer tickets can be attributed to a number of factors, including: • Improved parking payment options. The city’s parking app has been such a hit it now exceeds the city’s parking card as a method of payment. The app accounts for nine per cent of on-street parking use, up from 1.53 per cent in December 2014. • Increased parkade use. The city cut rates, made the first hour free and stopped charging after 6 p.m. last September in an effort to increase street parking turnover. It worked. Parkade use is up 60 per cent, which contributes to fewer tickets being issued for street parking. • Flexible rates. Zones outside the core allow motorists to park for longer periods without penalty. City staff say three-, four- and 24-hour parking transactions are up between 2.6 and 9.9 per cent while 90-minute and twohour parking are down four per cent. • Awareness. Staff say improved awareness of parking and payment options has resulted in fewer violations.
City councillors decided this year to bring parking services in house, shedding its $1-million contract with the commissionaires and, instead, hiring 19 parking ambassadors who will hit the streets in the new year.