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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 12:48 PM
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Parking in Winnipeg - WFP

Space and time

Sat Jan 12 2008

By Bartley Kives

THE most profitable parking pay station in the City of Winnipeg can be found on tiny Olivia Street, a minuscule strip of asphalt just south of Health Sciences Centre.
During the first 11 months of 2007, HSC visitors used their loonies, toonies and credit cards to pump $15,567 into pay station No. 3395, the highest revenue-generator of all 256 kiosks operated by the Winnipeg Parking Authority.
"That bothers me," said Glen Seroy, an HSC safety official, standing on Olivia Street on a mild January morning.

"There should be more parking around here. And there should be better signs. A lot of people who come here don't understand how to use the machines. They're older and they're intimidated by the technology."

Like most Winnipeggers -- and all employees at Health Sciences Centre, which suffers from a serious parking shortage -- Seroy has strong opinions about where you can and cannot leave your car in the centre of the city.

On any given weekday, motorists park 65,000 vehicles in downtown Winnipeg and the West Alexander neighbourhood around the HSC, where private parking companies, public agencies and the Winnipeg Parking Authority operate about 35,000 spots.

Total number of paid parking spots in inner-city Winnipeg: Approximately 35,000

Number of those spots in privately owned surface lots and parkades: Approximately 27,000

Number of parking stalls operated by Impark throughout Winnipeg: About 18,000, in 150 separate lots

City-owned paid parking stalls: Approximately 5,000
On downtown streets and near hospitals: 2,700
In city-owned parkades: 1,973
In city-owned surface lots: About 300

Average cost of a monthly parking spot in downtown Winnipeg: $90 to $130

Average cost of a monthly parking spot in Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa, according to a Colliers International survey: $350, $302 and $195, respectively.

Estimated number of cars that park downtown for at least part of an average weekday: 65,000

Projected revenue for the Winnipeg Parking Authority through the end of 2007: Total revenue: $13.5 million

Percentage of that revenue earned from tickets and other forms of enforcement: 42 per cent, or $5.6 million

Percentage earned from parkades at Winnipeg Square, the Millennium Library and the Civic Centre: 33 per cent, or $4.5 million

Percentage earned from on-street parking and permits: 19 per cent, or $2.6 million

Percentage earned from city-owned surface lots: six per cent, or $800,000

Estimated extra revenue generated each year at Millennium Library parkade due to events at MTS Centre: About $250,000

Number of pay-and-display parking stations in Winnipeg: 256

Number to be added this summer: 125

Number of conventional one- and two-hour parking meters in Winnipeg: 1,168

Number of those meters to be removed: All but about 100, and those that remain will be digital.

Revenue lost by the city in January 2007 when cold weather prevented some downtown pay stations from functioning properly: About $40,000

On-street parking revenue lost by the city during the summer of 2007 due to downtown road repairs: About $100,000

Number of commissionaires working in Winnipeg on an average weekday: 26, including 17 foot patrols and nine mobile units

Average number of times a parking spot on a Winnipeg street is checked by a commissionaire during a normal weekday: Three

Commissionaire staffing shortage in 2007: 30 per cent

The highest-earning parking pay stations in the City of Winnipeg in 2007*

1. West side of Olivia Street, south of McDermot Avenue (near Health Sciences Centre): $15,567

2. North side of Lombard Avenue at Westbrook Street (near CanWest Global Park): $14,373

3. North side of Portage Avenue at Balmoral Street (near the Winnipeg Parking Authority office): $14,239

* Revenue earned from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, 2007
Worst parking scofflaw

A West End resident, whose identity has been withheld due to privacy legislation, has 144 outstanding tickets and owes the city $6,700 in unpaid fines. The individual in question no longer owns a car, so seizing a vehicle is out of the question.

The widespread perception is there isn't enough parking. But perception and reality are two very different things, especially when it comes to the sticky science of providing parking.

"When people say there isn't enough parking downtown, what they really mean is there isn't enough free parking downtown," said Colin Stewart, special projects manager for the Winnipeg Parking Authority, which operates about 5,000 spots on city streets, three city-owned parkades and a handful of surface lots.

While private companies like Impark, the international parking behemoth that operates 150 lots in Winnipeg, focus on reserved monthly stalls, the WPA's main goal is to provide casual, short-term parking.

Contrary to popular belief, that does not mean making as much money as possible from people heading downtown to shop, renew their passport or visit an eye doctor, although the WPA did expect to earn $2.6 million from on-street parking and residential permits by the end of last year.

WPA chief operating officer Dave Hill said his agency ultimately wants people to be able to park downtown as easily as possible, although not necessarily as cheaply as possible.

Suburban drivers who feel they have a God-given right to drive right up to the front of their desired destination may express disbelief, but Hill insists the Winnipeg Parking Authority strives to ensure there are one or two open spots on any block at any given time.

"Being a philosophical parking guy, the question of how much parking is enough is very difficult, because demand is fluid and changing all the time," he said, noting the goal is to ensure one out of every 10 spots on the street is open. "It's a big challenge, but with the technology we have available, it's an achievable goal."

The technology in question is electronic pay stations that allow the WPA to monitor the way Winnipeg drivers use parking spots, something that wasn't possible with the old conventional meters that are being phased out.

Cash from the old meters was simply collected and dumped in a bag, with no attention paid to which ones were busy, and at what time of day.
The new pay stations provide that data, allowing the WPA to make minor adjustments and even consider charging more for meters in high-use areas, at some point in the future.

For now, the standard $1-an-hour rate remains in effect at all WPA pay stations, which will replace all but about 100 conventional meters before the end of 2008, Stewart said.

Conventional meters will remain on streets where there are not enough parking spots to warrant the placement of a more expensive pay station. The WPA will add 125 more of the machines, which allow drivers to pay by credit card and even cellphone.

Fears they would not work during a Winnipeg winter proved to be founded in January 2007, when several downtown machines malfunctioned during a cold snap, costing the city $40,000 in lost revenue.

But the WPA is pleased with the machines, which also allow more vehicles to park on a given stretch of street. Parking spaces at conventional meters are about seven metres long, while drivers tend to take up only six metres when they're left to their own devices on streets with pay stations.

The WPA also operates a handful of surface parking lots, as well as parkades at Winnipeg Square, the Millennium Library and the Civic Centre. All three parkades are cash cows that generate a combined $4.5 million a year in revenue, but two decades of neglect has left the authority facing a $13-million repair tab.

IN recent years, the parkades were allowed to slide because the Winnipeg Parking Authority was forced to transfer revenue to the City of Winnipeg regardless of how much money it collected. As a result, the WPA has an accumulated deficit of $7 million.

But new rules slated to be approved this year should allow the WPA to keep the cash it collects, with an eye to paying off its deficit, repairing its parkades and then, some time during the next decade, building a few more.
The shortage of parkades in downtown Winnipeg -- and the relative ubiquity of surface parking lots -- is a sore spot with urban planners and downtown proponents alike.

While the cost of creating a surface parking stall is only $2,000, the cost of the average parkade stall is more like $22,000. Given the relatively low cost of monthly parking in Winnipeg -- rates typically run from $90 to $125, among the puniest in Canada -- the potential return on investment for any prospective parkade builder is low.

Downtown development agency CentreVenture wants to partner with private companies to build at least three more parkades. The problem is economics, as parkades don't look profitable until monthly parking rates rise above $200.

CentreVenture and the City of Winnipeg have partnered with Bedford Investments to transform the heritage building at 104 King St. into a new $7.4-million parkade, with retail stores on the main level.

CentreVenture CEO Ross McGowan said he has three more locations on his parkade wish list: North of Portage Avenue near the still-unredeveloped Avenue Building; on the west side of Main Street north of Logan Avenue, where the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority may build new offices; and on the east side of the Exchange District, where there are not enough new parking spots to meet the demand from new condominium owners.

Some condo sales have actually been killed by a shortage of parking east of Main Street, said Jim Paterson, the acting director of Winnipeg's Property, Planning and Development Department.

He said the city's $2.8-million investment in the 104 King St. project ($1.5 million in grants, $800,000 in tax incentives and $500,000 from CentreVenture) shows Winnipeg is serious about building more parkades, which city planners would love to see replace downtown's depressing patchwork of surface parking lots.

"We would prefer fewer surface lots. They don't lend themselves to a pedestrian environment. They're like missing teeth -- the huge void between St. Mary's and Broadway in particular (is) a vast wasteland," Paterson said.

In cities across North America, parkades are preferred over surface lots because they encourage density and can even preserve the character of a neighbourhood, added Hill. The 104 King St. project will preserve the north- and west-facing red-brick facades of the King Building, one of the oldest buildings in the Exchange District.
The other busy area that may soon see another parkade is Health Sciences Centre. A new 1,200-stall parkade planned for the medical complex won't even put a dent in the list of employees waiting for a parking spot, Stewart said.

In the short term, that means more headaches for people like Seroy, who has received a ticket while parking on busy Olivia Street.

"You park here, you're guaranteed to get a ticket," he said, echoing the sentiments of most hospital employees.

The WPA claims no particular area is targeted by its foot patrols and mobile units. But chief operating officer Hill did divulge a little parking secret: The average spot in Winnipeg is only checked an average of three times a day.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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  #2  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 2:32 PM
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hmm wonder if you could get companies to buy into say a parkadge for construction and that garenteeds them so many stalls... or build a cuple parkades that people can buy stalls in... like in chicago....
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 2:41 PM
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I just hope these experts can fix the parking problem soon. Downtown might decline if they don't.
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 7:41 PM
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hmm wonder if you could get companies to buy into say a parkadge for construction and that garenteeds them so many stalls... or build a cuple parkades that people can buy stalls in... like in chicago....
another classic!
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 10:46 PM
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The more trained economists amongst us may help answer this question better...

But what about a surface parking tax? Unpopular with Suburban Jane + Joe? Surely. But would artificially driving up parking costs while offering tax (or other) incentives for mixed use infill on surface lots work to at least get the ball rolling?
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Pootkao View Post
The more trained economists amongst us may help answer this question better...

But what about a surface parking tax? Unpopular with Suburban Jane + Joe? Surely. But would artificially driving up parking costs while offering tax (or other) incentives for mixed use infill on surface lots work to at least get the ball rolling?
How would this not drive business out of downtown? In my opinion, Winnipeg's core is nowhere near strong enough economically to survive a policy that would increase the cost of going downtown and of doing business there.
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 11:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pootkao View Post
The more trained economists amongst us may help answer this question better...

But what about a surface parking tax? Unpopular with Suburban Jane + Joe? Surely. But would artificially driving up parking costs while offering tax (or other) incentives for mixed use infill on surface lots work to at least get the ball rolling?
Its not so much the land owners want to own surface lots (not extremely profitable compared to other forms of real estate enterprise in the downtown).. but they need to have profitable development options to take there place. For instance the Richardsons own many empty lots near P&M .. which they have often stated they want to turn into a office campus. The problem is the demand for new space is not enough to offset the cost of development... so the land sits and waits for opportunity to strike. That land has far too much potencial to waste on lowrise development.

Increase the demand for space and I can assure you there will be fewer and fewer empty lots in the future... as they are the cheapest to develop.

Last point ... the province currently has a capital tax, which is more or less a tax on capital assets over 5 million. The problem is empty lots are not considered a capital asset, so in effect the government is encouraging less development on empty lots(thus encouraging surface lots).

On the plus side the province has recently stated it will eliminate this tax in the future.
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 11:08 PM
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But what about a surface parking tax? Unpopular with Suburban Jane + Joe? Surely.
The City's downtown policy-makers and the cabal top downtown boosters are (I'm willing to guess) almost exclusively suburban Janes and Joes. Which is why we're seeing little more than simply heightened efforts at doing the same things that have been done to fix the "parking problem" for the last 60 years.
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Old Posted Jan 12, 2008, 11:13 PM
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The City's downtown policy-makers and the cabal top downtown boosters are (I'm willing to guess) almost exclusively suburban Janes and Joes. Which is why we're seeing little more than simply heightened efforts at doing the same things that have been done to fix the "parking problem" for the last 60 years.
It all breaks down to supply and demand.. those lots are zoned for development... and waiting for opportunity.


... I must also comment on your signature quote...

Quote:
"I don't think that you'll see a proliferation of private sector development. A, because we don't really want that, and B, because it's slow to take place"

Sad .. but that was from Winnipeg's Mayor in the 1980's.... and we all wonder how downtown took such a hit.
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 1:25 AM
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It all breaks down to supply and demand.. those lots are zoned for development... and waiting for opportunity.

And waiting for the owners to sell them.



A tax on surface lots might push some owners to sell, and a tax credit or incentive to developers might push some developers to buy. I don't know if it would be enough to get any balls rolling, though. The land tax is still the best idea I've heard, and I'm still, after all these years, an advocate of it.
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 2:05 AM
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And waiting for the owners to sell them.



A tax on surface lots might push some owners to sell, and a tax credit or incentive to developers might push some developers to buy. I don't know if it would be enough to get any balls rolling, though. The land tax is still the best idea I've heard, and I'm still, after all these years, an advocate of it.
I just don't see the Richardsons, Aspers, the Manitoba Government, the Federal Government, large pension plans and REITs rushing to sell surface lots because there is a tax on surface lots. It will only drive down the values of those lots and hurt those well capitalized land owners. Not exactly a solution in my books.

The solution is drive up demand for space.

Currently there is a ridiclous payroll tax which discourages companies from hiring more staff in Manitoba. This is another example of restricting demand for space in the province.

Here's a brilliant idea.. incourage companies to expand and hire more staff .. thus increasing the demand for new space. Manitoba is still backwards in many ways.
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 8:41 AM
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I just don't see the Richardsons, Aspers, the Manitoba Government, the Federal Government, large pension plans and REITs rushing to sell surface lots because there is a tax on surface lots. It will only drive down the values of those lots and hurt those well capitalized land owners. Not exactly a solution in my books.

The solution is drive up demand for space.

Currently there is a ridiclous payroll tax which discourages companies from hiring more staff in Manitoba. This is another example of restricting demand for space in the province.

Here's a brilliant idea.. incourage companies to expand and hire more staff .. thus increasing the demand for new space. Manitoba is still backwards in many ways.

I don't remember the exact details, but I do believe the payroll tax is slated to be removed this year.
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 8:26 PM
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I don't remember the exact details, but I do believe the payroll tax is slated to be removed this year.
Really??!!

Are you pulling my leg?

I never heard this... can any one confirm this?


..... damnit.. where are my moving boxes!!!!????
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 8:54 PM
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Really??!!

Are you pulling my leg?

I never heard this... can any one confirm this?


..... damnit.. where are my moving boxes!!!!????
I don't think the payroll tax is really all that significant.
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 9:03 PM
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Really??!!

Are you pulling my leg?

I never heard this... can any one confirm this?


..... damnit.. where are my moving boxes!!!!????
there was a blurb on cjob in the last cuple weeks but thats all i have herd
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 10:03 PM
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I don't think the payroll tax is really all that significant.
It definately plays a roll in discouraging investment..

.. by eliminating this tax on expansion .. Manitoba will see higher job creation .. and eventually higher demands for work space.
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Old Posted Jan 13, 2008, 10:05 PM
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there was a blurb on cjob in the last cuple weeks but thats all i have herd
I can only hope this is true.
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Old Posted Jan 16, 2008, 3:49 AM
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Most successful downtown's have strategic parking plans, and lots of indoor parking intermixed with housing, mixed use buildings and all that other urbanism stuff.
But this is not the silver bullet and I don’t see anyone saying that.

Having said this rapid transit is just as important, and critical piece of the puzzle. So is ease of pedestrian movement and bike paths.
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