Winnipeg Businesses Decry Parking Changes as ‘Short-Sighted’ and Shocking

Posted at | Categorised in local businesses, money, public transportation, rent, work and pay

A plan by the City of Winnipeg to remove all 250

parking paystations

from downtown and the West End isn’t sitting well with everyone.

The move — which the city says is due to mobile service providers phasing out 3G technology — is expected to help Winnipeg avoid the $3.6-million cost of upgrading all of the meters, as well as the $1-million annual cost of upkeep.

Although the city reports that 80 percent of transactions are now conducted through the PayByPhone app—with 90 percent of all payments being made by credit card—a business association representing West End merchants argues this doesn’t address the requirements of every visitor to the neighborhood.

“I’ve encountered business owners who, whenever a parking meter isn’t conveniently located, cover their customers’ parking fees since these individuals either do not have the app or aren’t willing to go through the hassle of downloading it,” explained David Pensato from the Exchange District BIZ.

Simply disposing of them is quite startling and lacks foresight.

The municipality states that it plans to start eliminating the paystations on July 2, with an aim to remove all 250 by the end of August.

For those who don’t want the app, the city said it will continue to sell prepaid booklets with parking coupons and will have a 1-800 number for people who want to pay by phone but don’t want the app.

The pamphlets will be accessible solely at The Parking Store on Portage Avenue, along with the Susan A. Thompson Building at city hall and Access St. Boniface, by July 2nd.

Pensato mentioned that the plan does not take into account people who wish to make brief, informal trips to the downtown area.

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“The simplicity of using on-street parking for brief visits significantly enhances convenience and user experience,” he stated.

If you plan to stay longer than two hours, you might want to consider finding one of the parking lots.

However, many individuals are moving from one location; they might stay for about two hours… possibly extending their visit by another couple of hours before getting into their vehicle, relocating, and heading to the next destination within the Exchange area… this transition is essential.

Pensato mentioned that this choice does not align with what local authorities have communicated to businesses over the past few years—that they were planning a comprehensive parking strategy for the city aimed at mitigating these issues.

This was always supposed to involve ongoing consultations with us and with businesses, which was something new.

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