Parking authority wants more on-street parking revenue

Toronto councillors will be asked to raise rates on some downtown streets.

Thestar.com
Sept. 10, 2015
By Betsy Powell

The Toronto Parking Authority is asking council to increase the hourly rate and hours of operation on some on-street parking spaces in and around the downtown core.

“These changes are based on parking usage and area changes experienced in the on-street parking program between 2012 and 2014,” authority president Lorne Perisko says in a report to government management committee.

The changes, if approved by council and fully implemented, will generate approximately $1.5 million in annual gross revenue. This will partially offset an overall decline in on-street parking revenue, due to extended peak period restrictions, the creation of dedicated bike lanes and closures due to construction and events, the report states. It will cost $100,000 to implement the changes.

The proposed changes include expanding the $4 hourly rate area northwards into parts of the city that charge $3, as well as expanding the $3 hourly rate area west along Dundas St. W. and College St. W., from Spadina Ave. to Bathurst St. The current rate there is $2.25.

The TPA also wants to extend the payment periods in certain parts of the city, particularly in areas that experience a lot of evening activity, such as King St. W. between University Ave. and Bathurst St. The authority also wants Sunday metered parking in the area around the University of Toronto, called the Discovery District, and Yorkville, to start at 10 a.m. instead of 1 p.m.

The report will be considered by the committee before it goes to council.

Prices also jumped this week at about 50 of Toronto’s “Green P” parking lots. Those hikes are expected to generate between $2 million and $2.5 million per year for the parking authority.

While the TPA can set off-street pricing, council has final approval over any changes to the cost of on-street parking.