Report on Parking Fee Changes Issued

A report on parking fees was issued to the Transportation Committee today, providing information on plans for implementation, public input received and the financial implications of the changes to the City’s on-street paid parking program that were adopted by Council in the 2008 budget.

The changes are designed to encourage transit usage and promote vehicle turnover for businesses. When implemented, these Council-approved changes will contribute $4.24 million in revenues to the 2008 Budget.

Changes to the on-street paid parking program include:

• Rate Change - Increase on-street parking rates city wide to $3.00/hour from current $2.50/hour.
• Weekday evenings - Charge for on-street parking into the evenings (until 9:00pm) from Monday to Friday in commercial areas only
• Weekends - Charge for on-street parking on Saturday (8:00am to 9:00pm) and Sunday (8:00am - 5:30pm) in commercial areas only
• Pay and Display - Introduce Pay and Display machines city-wide to replace parking meters.
• New Areas - Introduce on-street paid parking on Wellington Street, Beechwood Avenue, and Bank Street (Old Ottawa South)

In order to allow for more discussion and debate, Council delayed the implementation date for the rate and time changes from February 1st, 2008 to March 1st, 2008.

Any changes to the approved parking fees would be considered revisiting a Council-approved budget and would therefore require three-quarters approval at both committee and Council. Decisions affecting the changes to the $4.24 million in new revenues approved by Council, would also require new sources of offsetting revenues to be identified or require an increase in property taxes in order to compensate for the resulting reduced revenues.

The City of Ottawa will hold a special meeting of the Transportation Committee on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 10 a.m., to consider the report and fee and time changes. The public is invited to attend the Committee meeting which will be held at 110 Laurier Avenue West in Andrew S. Haydon Hall.

The implementation of Pay and Display machines and the expansion of rate and time changes into new areas awaits further consideration, and if approved are expected to occur in mid-2008. The public can find the report online attached to the Transportation Committee agenda on ottawa.ca. To view rate changes at individual parking lots and facilities, visit ottawa.ca/parking.