Final five-year strategy to be completed following public and stakeholder engagement
Winnipeg, MB – The City of Winnipeg is releasing the Winnipeg Parking Strategy: A Conceptual Framework to inform the public and help guide stakeholders through the decision-making process as we develop a five-year parking strategy. The conceptual framework will be presented at the meeting of the Standing Policy Committee on Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works on October 15, 2020.
The City recognizes the importance of having a strategic plan developed with input from residents, businesses, hospitals, and other stakeholders who rely on effective parking management.
The final Winnipeg Parking Strategy will be a roadmap that clearly articulates the City’s vision for on-street and off-street parking. Through this project, the City will create a framework for the development of progressive policies and programs related to its parking supply. It will also include a curbside management program that balances access for all stakeholders who rely on this space, including drivers, cyclists, mobile vendors, emergency services, and vehicles for hire.
The City will begin public and stakeholder engagement this year, and incorporate feedback into a final strategy for Council’s review and consideration in spring 2021.
The City is also immediately implementing the following action items:
- Formally adopting a Saturday Complimentary On-Street Parking Policy to help reduce confusion for drivers and, in doing so, support local businesses in the Downtown and Exchange Districts. Drivers will be allowed two hours of free parking, with the option to purchase an additional two hours of paid parking before or after (for a total of four hours), at on-street paid parking spaces. This policy aligns with the current Saturday complimentary parking practice and will be applicable throughout the city except in areas around hospitals.
- Continuing to remove under-utilized paystations as part of an asset rationalization plan that began in 2015 to reduce future capital cost requirements when aging paystations are replaced. Paystations removed as part of this plan will be replaced with signage providing information on the mobile parking payment application.
- Implementing a new block-by-block numbering system in 2020 for on-street parking payments made through the mobile parking payment application to provide more detailed data on parking consumption that may be used to support decisions regarding pricing and future customer service enhancements.
The immediate implementation timeline reflects the fact that these items were planned as distinct projects prior to the development of the Winnipeg Parking Strategy and have since been integrated into the strategy, with preliminary work already underway.
The City is also exploring expanding the use of mail as the method of serving parking-related penalty notices generated by existing automated licence plate recognition equipment to improve the operational efficiency of parking enforcement. This item will be recommended as part of the 2021 Budget.
The administrative report is publicly available through the Decision Making Information System (DMIS).