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Parking in Waterloo Region
I think the goal is to promote the monthly parking option. Not a very expensive promotion, so I don't really have any issue with it.
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People always have an issue when something that used to be free is no longer free, so it's good to have promotions, and even better to show people that their parking money is making a difference in the community, e.g. using a Parking Benefit District.
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That's a great way of thinking of it!

Imagine if the Iron Horse or Spur Line trail suddenly became Toll MUT's.
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(09-30-2018, 05:35 AM)Canard Wrote: That's a great way of thinking of it!

Imagine if the Iron Horse or Spur Line trail suddenly became Toll MUT's.

I’d be OK with that if the same applied to all roads, and the toll was proportional to the effect each user had on other users and on the trail itself.

The “road wear” component of the toll would be thousands of times higher for cars than for bicycles, and even higher for heavy trucks.

The “congestion” component would be less, but still enormously higher for typical motor vehicles than for bicycles.
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(09-29-2018, 11:09 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: Is this really necessary? Are people who use the Kitchener parking feeling so unappreciated that they might take their parking elsewhere or not come park at all?

I realize your comment was likely sarcasm, however, the city doesn't have a monopoly on parking.  There are private lots downtown, as well as churches/schools/other business who rent out their parking during the day.

Coke
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My general observation is that those who don't drive or own a car seem to think there is too much parking, while those who do, think there isn't enough.
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(10-02-2018, 11:47 AM)Canard Wrote: My general observation is that those who don't drive or own a car seem to think there is too much parking, while those who do, think there isn't enough.

Probably true, but I don't think it's because car drivers have some insight others don't. I think most people in this region that drive mostly visit suburban destinations like malls or power centres where there's vast fields of parking, and so parking that's underground or in a garage or not free is basically invisible to them. They see the lack of parking on King St and conclude there's no parking. Perhaps what drivers are complaining about is that there's not enough free parking.

We have objective scientific data on this from the various parking studies that have been conducted, all of which say there is more parking than is ever used in uptown and downtown. Kitchener built the huge Charles and Benton garage, and the upper floors are rarely used. Monthly passes are available for it with no waiting list because it was built to have far more monthly passes than are currently sold.

You can go to the Charles and Benton garage right in the middle of downtown and park there any time you want, because it's never full, and yet people still say downtown doesn't have enough parking.

(not that it should matter for any of this, as we're discussing facts, but I do own a car)
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Can confirm that when I've gone in the middle of the day to Charles and Benton, anecdotally, a dozen times a year, the non-ground floors seem to be <10% used.
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(10-02-2018, 12:08 PM)taylortbb Wrote:
(10-02-2018, 11:47 AM)Canard Wrote: My general observation is that those who don't drive or own a car seem to think there is too much parking, while those who do, think there isn't enough.

Probably true, but I don't think it's because car drivers have some insight others don't.

Likewise, neither do people who don’t have a car or who hate cars/don’t drive.
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(10-02-2018, 01:16 PM)Canard Wrote:
(10-02-2018, 12:08 PM)taylortbb Wrote: Probably true, but I don't think it's because car drivers have some insight others don't.

Likewise, neither do people who don’t have a car or who hate cars/don’t drive.

The city should have message boards located as you approach downtown that indicate the number of available spaces by parking lot as an aid to directing people to where the parking is and to make people aware of the availability.
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(10-02-2018, 01:16 PM)Canard Wrote:
(10-02-2018, 12:08 PM)taylortbb Wrote: Probably true, but I don't think it's because car drivers have some insight others don't.

Likewise, neither do people who don’t have a car or who hate cars/don’t drive.

True.

The only ones who do have objective data about whether there is parking is those who have measured that data.

It's not about being right or wrong, it's about having the data, that's how we can make decisions that are effective.  Evidence based policy is so important.  The City of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener have both spent immense amounts of money building more parking in the cores.  Yet we still get complaints about not enough parking.  Because the evidence shows that there is no lack of parking, spending even more money to build even more parking is not likely to change those complaints.  So without the data to show what the problem is, we will continue to waste money.  Understanding what the problem is could help solve the problem.

When it comes to parking specifically, I highly recommend reading one of Donald Shoup's books, they are incredibly informative.

For example, he recommends pricing curb parking (the most valuable parking) at a price such that 1-2 spaces are open on every block.  This ensures that there is always parking available for those looking.  Which means the perception that "there is no parking" will disappear.  Shoup provides strong evidence that this policy is a far better solution to lack of parking than more parking.

I personally think, but don't have evidence to show right now, that the main problem with parking uptown is that everyone knows about one parking lot, goes there, finds it (nearly) full, and declares, there's no parking in uptown...when in fact there are many other parking lots with lots of available spaces.  Thus, better signage and communication is the solution--but before spending money on that, we should try to evaluate if my beliefs are correct.
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(10-02-2018, 12:27 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Can confirm that when I've gone in the middle of the day to Charles and Benton, anecdotally, a dozen times a year, the non-ground floors seem to be <10% used.

Are spaces on the ground floor for monthly parking, or just on upper levels?
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The ground floor just happens to have a weird layout due to the facilities there. The coworker I get rides from would be parked on the 2nd-4th floor, and the floors were like ghost towns, usually no fewer than 3 other cars, but never even needed two hands to count them all.
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(10-02-2018, 12:08 PM)taylortbb Wrote: Probably true, but I don't think it's because car drivers have some insight others don't. I think most people in this region that drive mostly visit suburban destinations like malls or power centres where there's vast fields of parking, and so parking that's underground or in a garage or not free is basically invisible to them. They see the lack of parking on King St and conclude there's no parking. Perhaps what drivers are complaining about is that there's not enough free parking.

I think it's also what you experience when you look for parking - you drive to the destination, then look for immediately adjacent parking until you give up, and go further and further until you find a spot. If street parking on the main street or a very central parking lot is frequently full, then a lot of people will experience that and perceive insufficient parking - even if a block away there's a mostly empty lot. I've often seen the lot between Waterloo Town Square and Erb Street to be completely full, with cars circling in hopes of discovering otherwise.

The solution of course is to make the really attractive central parking spaces not free (at least not for more than 15-30 minutes). So if you want to park centrally, you can find a spot instead of circling and polluting, but pay a bit of money for it.
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(10-02-2018, 01:41 PM)NotStan Wrote:
(10-02-2018, 01:16 PM)Canard Wrote: Likewise, neither do people who don’t have a car or who hate cars/don’t drive.

The city should have message boards located as you approach downtown that indicate the number of available spaces by parking lot as an aid to directing people to where the parking is and to make people aware of the availability.

From the anecdata in this thread, that's what the giant P signs we already have are. They always point to garages with space, since all the garages have space :)

(( In my opinion the best places to put "Parking available $THAT_WAY" are in the exits to the more popular free parking lots. Gets people right when they're frustrated they couldn't find a spot.  ))
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