What is this Service?

Parking Services provides parking operations, maintenance and enforcement services for residents, businesses and visitors of the municipality. The goal of Parking Services is to ensure that parking is available in an equitable, affordable and safe manner.

Specific objectives include:

• • Affordable on-street parking rates with hours of use conducive to turnover and to the needs of the business
  • Supporting business, commercial, institutional and entertainment  patrons by optimizing the availability of on-street parking for short visits, and providing supplemental, off-street parking for longer visits
  • Balancing the availability of residential street parking between the needs of the residents, and the needs of the greater community
  • Equitable enforcement of parking by-laws to ensure compliance and safety for the community

Influencing Factors:

• Location:  Cross border traffic, proximity to large metropolitan areas and location of public parking relative to retail/commercial/entertainment facilities.
• Operating Standards and Policies:  Cost recovery policies, service hours (24/7 availability, or restricted access) maintenance standards (for line painting, lighting replacement, garbage collection, etc.).
• Processes and Systems:   The type and quality of technology used to manage operations and enforcement, i.e. handheld devices vs. written; ticket management systems; meters vs. pay and display machines, level of automation at parking surface lots vs. parking garage structures.
• Service Delivery Model:  The level of automation at parking lots; staff vs. contracted attendants, mix of on-street and off-street parking spaces.
• Structural Issues:  The use of parking structures/garages in a parking portfolio vs. surface lots, age of facilities/equipment.
• Utilization Levels:  The use of variable-rate pricing structures, the availability of public transit/public transit utilization rate and the proximity of parking alternatives (free public parking, private lots) will impact utilization levels.