Parking in Waterloo Region

[ookpik]

I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to figure out who was parking downtown every day and start issuing those people tickets rather just the occasional visitor that happens to park all over downtown visiting a bunch of different businesses. License-plate reading technology is scary-good these days and could conceivably be deployed to capture all this revenue from the worst offenders that are habitually parking for free instead of paying to store their.

Coke6pk mentioned above that licence plate data is only stored for one day due to privacy concerns. I don't see any issue with retaining it for up to 30 days for the purpose you suggest. That would catch the "frequent flyers, er parkers."

Also what kind of boss lets their employees waste time every day going to move a car?

I was wondering that as well. Also what employee can't afford to pay for a dedicated parking spot so much that they'd rather go out every couple of hours, in all weather conditions, to play musical parking spots with their car. If this is a real issue rather than an imagined one then we have a serious management problem among employers in the downtown core.

The Region purchased parking passes in the Parkade for their staff (and in fact, it would not surprise me if the Parkade was built partly to service the parking needs for Regional staff).  However, several years ago, the Waterloo Town Square lots were full while the Parkade was empty during daytime hours.  It was discovered that part of the problem was the Regional staff disliked parking in the Parkade and preferred to park in the surface lots instead.  Adding the 2-hour limit encouraged the Regional staff to park in the Parkade.

This would be easy to address by keeping licence plate data for at least a few days in order to identify "regulars." That would also catch others who are abusing the free parking in Uptown.

[mpd618]

Seems like it's a good time for Kitchener to reconsider its downtown parking policy.

[MacBerry]

Seems like it's a good time for Kitchener to reconsider its downtown parking policy.

Councillors in every town/city should be required to re-visit and vote on parking bylaws two months before every election cycle.     

I suspect there would be much different outcomes ...       

[Coke6pk]

Also what kind of boss lets their employees waste time every day going to move a car?

One who follows the law and allows 15 min breaks and/or lunch periods?   [Like I said... park car at 9.  Unless by-law is entering your licence plate as you park, you have a buffer.  11:15 would likely be the first time you need to move the car... That's the start of lunch.  Pull into a paid lot.  On your afternoon break, pull back onto the street.]  Personally, I'm too lazy to play that game, but many aren't.  Right in the core may be harder, but on the outskirts of that 5 hr zone, its not too difficult to do the re-park dance.  In all likelihood, I wouldn't be surprised if people share a single parking pass and switch spot for spot with their parking buddy throughout the day)


Is the law perfect?  No.  Will people who are legitimate customers get tagged... sometimes.  Is there a perfect solution, maybe... if so, sell it to your councillor. 

Coke

[Coke6pk]

I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to figure out who was parking downtown every day and start issuing those people tickets rather just the occasional visitor that happens to park all over downtown visiting a bunch of different businesses. License-plate reading technology is scary-good these days and could conceivably be deployed to capture all this revenue from the worst offenders that are habitually parking for free instead of paying to store their.

Coke6pk mentioned above that licence plate data is only stored for one day due to privacy concerns. I don't see any issue with retaining it for up to 30 days for the purpose you suggest. That would catch the "frequent flyers, er parkers."

And they tag the guy who stops for 5 min every morning to grab a coffee and breakfast, as he parks there 5 times a week?  See above post, no perfect answer!

[ookpik]

And they tag the guy who stops for 5 min every morning to grab a coffee and breakfast, as he parks there 5 times a week?  See above post, no perfect answer!

Then there would be way too many "they"s wasting way too much time doing nothing productive. What business does a "they" have to be hanging out at the same coffee shop at the same time every morning?

[MidTowner]

I was wondering that as well. Also what employee can't afford to pay for a dedicated parking spot so much that they'd rather go out every couple of hours, in all weather conditions, to play musical parking spots with their car. If this is a real issue rather than an imagined one then we have a serious management problem among employers in the downtown core.

I worked in an office downtown where this was common. My coworkers had responsible positions and were fairly well-paid, and many of them would move their cars several times a day to avoid parking charges. Their jobs usually gave them enough freedom to do that.

In speaking with them about this, it became pretty clear that this practice wasn't a result of rational decision-making. It was usually related to a belief that parking should be free or very cheap, strong enough that they would inconvenience themselves to make sure it was. A lot of my co-workers would have a choice between paying $x per month (I can't remember how much, but "too damn much") at the market and walking a few blocks twice a day, and paying a parking ticket periodically and walking a couple of blocks a few times a day. A lot of people chose the latter, and it had nothing to do with affordability.

[ookpik]

I worked in an office at Frederick and Weber where this was common... A lot of people chose the latter, and it had nothing to do with affordability.

What did management think about this practice? Surely they must have been aware of it and aware of the negative effect it was having on productivity, if not also morale.

[MidTowner]

I wasn't personally in management so I can't comment on their awareness or opinion of it. Like I said, these were responsible positions and for purposes of time management staff were mostly only accountable to themselves. This wasn't shift work or retail.

I personally would guess that the practice would not have taken much more time out of anyone's day than might be consumed by employees going for a coffee or taking a walk around the block once in a while to stretch their legs.

[kwliving]

Cheap parking aside, if moving a car gets people walking for a few minutes and a mind break from work, it's probably beneficial to employee and employer.

[ookpik]

By that logic ("if [it] gets people walking for a few minutes and a mind break from work, it's probably beneficial to employee and employer") smoking should also be encouraged  

[clasher]

Depends on what you're smoking I guess.

[MacBerry]

By that logic ("if [it] gets people walking for a few minutes and a mind break from work, it's probably beneficial to employee and employer") smoking should also be encouraged  

But only if 100 meters from any door way or pathway or non-smokers 

[kwliving]

By that logic ("if [it] gets people walking for a few minutes and a mind break from work, it's probably beneficial to employee and employer") smoking should also be encouraged  

That isn't logic any more than "it's my birthday today so it's everybody's birthday". Happy birthday ookpik.

[Pheidippides]

Interesting article that tries to quantify the cost of parking embedded in rent (American figures).