WINNIPEG, MB - To increase the availability of on-street parking in the downtown area and to enable paystations to accept all new coins, the Winnipeg Parking Authority is implementing a series of downtown parking changes beginning Tuesday, November 13, 2012.
Increased meter rate areas in the downtown and Exchange District areas aim to generate turnover of the high demand on-street spaces to make room for additional customers and visitors to the area. A map outlining the streets included in the high demand zone can be found here:
winnipeg.ca/cao/media/imageLinks/ProposedHighDemandParkingAreas.htm
The basic pricing principle for generating this turnover is that on-street parking should be more expensive over the longer term than off-street parking. A vacancy rate of 15 per cent will allow 9 out of 10 motorists to find on-street parking within three blocks of their destination without having to circle and look for an open space.
Meter rates in the high demand areas will increase from $1 to $2 per hour.
The changes to on-street paystations will be deployed in two phases to ensure the least amount of disruption to the public, while allowing for key changes to be made immediately. Phase one will begin Tuesday, November 13, 2012 and consists of the following:
Coin Acceptors:
- All 667 on-street paystations will be programmed and upgraded to allow paystations to accept new loonies and toonies that the Royal Canadian Mint began issuing in April 2012.
- Once the coin acceptor on each machine has been upgraded, a decal indicating the price will be applied adjacent to the coin slot to identify the machine has been upgraded to accept the new coinage.
High Demand Zone:
- Approximately 143 paystations in the downtown and Exchange District areas will be reprogrammed from the $1 to the $2 rate.
- These paystations will be clearly marked to differentiate them from those in the non-high demand areas. Once the paystation is re-programmed, a new decal will be applied adjacent to the coin slot to clearly identify the $2 rate. There will also be a green stripe on the paystation receipt that differentiates this receipt from non-high demand zones. The $2 high demand zone green striped receipt is transferable from the high demand zone to a non-high demand zone if time remains on the receipt. However, the $1 non-high demand rate zone receipts will not be transferable to any $2 zone if time remains on the receipt.
Removal of re-metering:
- Programming changes to the pay-by-phone system will remove the ability to purchase re-metered time by phone. Additionally, Compliance Officers will patrol and ensure compliance to the maximum timed parking limits, in order to ensure the turnover of limited on-street parking.
Complimentary Saturday Parking:
- New larger decals have been prominently placed on the paystations indicating two hours of complimentary parking is available in the downtown on Saturdays.
On July 6, 2012, Council adopted the report of the Alternate Service Delivery Committee regarding the implementation of demand-based pricing at on-street metered locations and updates on other improvements to on-street parking.
Phase two is scheduled to begin in April 2013, and will include start time changes on all on-street paystations from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., extended downtown evening metered parking until 8:30 p.m. and traffic street signage changes.
Click here to view images of new decals on paystations as well as a map of the High Demand Zone.