Posts Tagged ‘calgary parking authority’
Calgary City Council has approved a controversial bylaw that will prohibit parking on designated snow routes for 72 hours after a major snowfall. The goal of the new snow routes is to help make the snow removal process more efficient by providing a clear path for snow plows to work. The snow routes will be located on most priority 1 and priority 2 roads. You can check out the interactive road conditions map that shows where they are located. This map will be updated with a new option to display the snow route later this year.
The benefits to the snow routes are clear, and to be honest it is about time they have been introduced to Calgary. The snow routes will not only speed up the snow clearing on the major routes, but it will allow the plows to hit the smaller roads sooner (if at all). However, there are a lot of consequences of introducing 72 hour parking bans–especially in the downtown core where parking is already at a premium.
Businesses in the downtown core will be affected, and even the City will lose out on parking revenue during the parking ban, but one of the biggest impacts will be those that commute downtown and for visitors to the City who may not be able to find available parking spaces after the lots are filled by commuters.
The City of Calgary has considered many compromises but here are a list of suggestions that I have come up with that may or may not help:
- Instead of a blanket 72 hour ban I propose the city bans parking for 24 hours after the snowfall stops or after the snow has been cleared, whichever is shorter.
- Only ban parking overnight so crews can work to clear the roads before commuters hit the streets.
- Introduce a day of week parking ban so crews can work on one side of the street on certain days of week and switch to the other side after those have been cleared.
- Make Calgary Transit free during snow events so commuters can take transit to work.
- Purchase a snow melting truck to speed up the snow clearing process in the central business district
I am willing to bet that we will see the Calgary Parking Authority handing out a ton of tickets during the final hours of the parking ban after the snow has stopped and the plows have gone home, because when it comes to new bylaws revenue is usually one of the objectives. Prove me wrong City of Calgary!
*update: 10/6/2011*
It looks like the City is going ahead with suggestion #2, at least in the dozen or so BRZs in the city. Parking will not be allowed overnight in these areas (9pm until 6am) so crews can clear those areas first.
Photo: @johnnyfever on twitter
Found this photo making its way around twitter and thought those of you who aren’t on twitter would find it interesting. They would not hesitate to write you a ticket for doing this, but do you think this driver should be ticketed and have to pay out of their own pocket?
I also notice the angle of the car and the proximity of the rear bumper to the vehicle behind it. Clever technique to ensure a picture of the license plate can’t be taken by the ParkPlus enforcement vehicles–not that they would ticket their own though.
Earlier this week some Calgary Transit customers were fuming as they returned to their vehicles in the Park and Ride lots to find parking violations on their windshields. As regular users of the pay lots at the LRT stations, they were sure the tickets were issued in error but upon closer inspection they realized the tickets were issued under bylaw 28(1) which is simply “Unauthorized Parking”. The unauthorized parking in this case was backing into the parking spot.
Ever since the switch to the new Park Plus system, the Calgary Parking Authority uses specialized camera vehicles that automatically record the license plates of vehicles parked on the street and in parking lots. On the streets, the camera system works very well capturing the plates and issuing tickets to those that have not paid for parking in their designated zones. In the LRT lots however, the system doesn’t work so well as the camera system was only designed for spots where drivers parallel park. In a parking lot situation where vehicles are sometimes backed into their spots, the cameras cannot see the license plates.
Instead of getting out of their vehicles to check the plates for valid parking credentials, the CPA has opted to issue tickets to those that park their vehicles backwards. The fine? $50. $40 if you pay early. On Wednesday, hundreds of tickets were issued to Calgary Transit customers. When asked about the parking notices, CPA simply shifted the attention to City Council. They explain they are only acting on orders from City Hall but at least one Alderman has come forward to say that this situation needs to be fixed and that the rule needs to be withdrawn as it is unfair.
The CPA has no plans to void the parking tickets it has issued but instead plans to improve the signage at some stations. At one station, there was no signage indicating the rules of the parking lot for drivers entering the parking lot, only on the way out of the lot. Enforcing a rule that goes against a very common parking lot practice without a public awareness campaign reeks of revenue hunting by Calgary Transit officials. With lots filled with less cars than they expected, they must be turning to parking violation revenue to make up for it.
While the city encourages commuters to use Calgary Transit instead of driving, they sure are doing everything they can to drive customers AWAY from the service. A few customers that received tickets this week have stated they plan on driving to work instead of putting up with the hassles of parking at the LRT lots.
*update*
The Calgary Parking Authority announced on Friday that they will be revoking all tickets issued for vehicles not parked nose-in between October 5th and October 8th. Those that have already paid for the tickets will automatically receive a refund. The CPA apologizes for any inconvenience caused and will be installing signs letting drivers know that the practice is not allowed.
What are your thoughts?
Beyond Media, Inc.
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