City considers doubling downtown parking rates

By Andrea Klassen - Kamloops This Week Published: August 22, 2012 12:00 PM

Time is ticking down on Kamloops' coin-operated parking meters.  At a special workshop on parking on Tuesday, Aug. 21, city council agreed to consider an overhaul of parking in the downtown core that would replace the current meters with digital pay stations and raise fees for the first time since 1994. The move follows a report from the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association that called for a number of changes to improve the downtown parking situation for both customers and people working in the city centre. Jon Wilson, the city's community safety and enforcement manager, told council the situation downtown doesn't encourage people to find off-street parking. In most cities, lot parking is cheaper than the metered option but, because Kamloops hasn't raised its rates in almost two decades, it's about twice as expensive to park off-street — making it more attractive for downtown employees to take up metered spaces. To solve that, city staff are proposing to double the meter fee to at least $1 an hour. On Victoria Street, which Wilson said is "probably the highest demand area in the downtown core," the hourly rate could go as high as $1.50. It would also replace the 850 aging parking meters with 135 pay stations, where driver register their vehicle's licence-plate number and can pay for their parking time using a credit card. Another 10 stations could go into off-street lots. Staff will also look at offering drivers the option of staying in a spot for a third hour, but the extra time would likely come at double the cost. Wilson said the technology upgrade would cost the city about $2.2 million, plus another $320,000 in operating expenses. However, he estimated the new system would bring in an extra $1.2 million in parking revenue each year, with the fee increase on Victoria Street alone netting nearly $200,000 for the city. Under the plan, a portion of that cash would go into a new parking fund, which could pay for updated equipment, development of new parking facilities or even alternative modes of transportation.

WHAT THEY PAY TO PARK
Downtown Vancouver: $6 an hour
Victoria: $2.50 an hour
Kelowna: $2 an hour
Surrey: $1 an hour
Penticton: $1 an hour
Kamloops: 50 cents an hour
Vernon: 50 cents an hour
Nanaimo: 50 cents an hour