A commentary by the CEO of the Downtown Victoria Business Association.
Complaints about parking downtown are almost as common as gripes about the rain in our coastal city. Yet, parking downtown is cheaper than most Canadian cities, parkades usually have space available, and wherever you park, you won’t park farther than you would when parking at a mall or at Costco to get to your destination.
Meanwhile, the exaggerated, negative narrative around parking hurts our local businesses and our regional economy.
Let’s imagine a world where we had free parking downtown. Likely, as we saw when parking was free on Sundays, workers and residents would be the first downtown every day and would take up most of the spaces.
Additionally, without the income from parking fees, the City of Victoria would have to find other ways to collect funds, likely with increased property taxes.
No one loves paying for parking, but as a finite resource, paid parking ensures reasonable management of the available supply. Yes, parking has become slightly more expensive and harder to find downtown, as it does in any desirable city. This comes with living in a beautiful city.
The Downtown Victoria Business Association is not part of the City of Victoria, we are a business-led nonprofit organization.
All downtown businesses are our members, and our focus is increasing the vitality and vibrancy of our downtown core. We don’t have control over parking availability, cost or otherwise.
The topic impacts our downtown, however, so I am writing today to address it from the lens of an organization that cares about a healthy small-business community and our city’s economy.
Allow me to address the typical concerns around parking downtown: Availability, proximity and cost.
Downtown has more than 7,360 parking spots. There are 1,900 on-street spots and 1,900 spaces in the City of Victoria parkades, and Robbins Parking lots and parkades have 3,566 stalls.
With on-street parking spots turning over an average of every 47 minutes, there are thousands of parking transactions daily. Further, at any given time, the City of Victoria parkades have an average stall availability of between 5% and 20%.
We also hear criticisms about proximity of downtown parking. When you park at a suburban mall, or Costco, you walk the equivalent of several blocks to and around your destination.
Our highly walkable downtown is small, and parkades exist throughout downtown, so it’s unlikely that you will be more than a few blocks from your destination if you park in a parkade.
Cost is another common complaint — but Victoria has one of the lowest average parking rates among Canadian cities. We pay on average $3.50 an hour, while in Vancouver they pay $5.13 an hour, in Calgary it’s $8.65 an hour and those in Toronto pay $13.30 an hour. There are also 144 one-hour free spots in the City-owned parkades.
Further, the City of Victoria has created some useful tools to mitigate frustrations around parking. Last year, it launched real time parking information on its website.
This page lists the five City parkades and the real-time availability at each, so users can easily navigate to a lot with space. The ParkVictoria app allows parkers to get a refund for unused time or add time remotely to avoid a ticket. The City parkades also have security and offer a “walk me to my car” service.
Finally, as much as Victorians bemoan the bike lanes, and we understand the consternation, safe biking conditions encourage people to ride downtown instead of drive, freeing parking for those who cannot, or will not, bike.
I am not suggesting parking downtown is perfect. We at the Downtown Victoria Business Association continue to advocate for more parking, including a new parkade in the downtown core.
I am trying to convey that this is a challenge for most cities, and perhaps the issue is not as bad as Victorians tout. The overall narrative of parking downtown does not reflect the reality, and it hurts our unique small- and medium-sized businesses that make our downtown the envy of Canada.
I encourage all Greater Victorians to download the ParkVictoria app, visit the updated parking page at downtownvictoria.ca/parking, access the real time parking information on the City of Victoria’s website, and re-discover the vibrancy and vitality of our downtown.
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