FAQ
- Formally adopting a Saturday Complimentary On-Street Parking Policy to help reduce confusion for drivers and, in doing so, support local businesses in the Downtown and Exchange Districts. Drivers will be allowed two hours of free parking, with the option to purchase an additional two hours of paid parking (for a total of four hours), at on-street paid parking spaces. If required, the two paid hours may be purchased either before or after the vehicle has been parked for the two free hours. This policy aligns with the current Saturday complimentary parking practice and will be applicable throughout the city except in areas around hospitals.
- Continuing to remove under-utilized paystations as part of an asset rationalization plan that began in 2015. Decreasing the total inventory of on-street paystations will reduce future capital cost requirements when these aging assets are replaced. Paystations removed as part of this plan will be replaced with signage providing information on the mobile parking payment application. Any removal or relocation of paystations will be done in a way that maintains continuity of service for drivers who require or prefer this payment option.
- Implementing a new block-by-block numbering system in 2020 for on-street parking payments made through the mobile parking payment application to provide more detailed data on parking consumption that may be used to support decisions regarding pricing. This may also contribute to future customer service enhancements such as providing real-time parking availability through the mobile parking payment application.
- High-demand areas have an average occupancy of 80 percent or greater across the area during peak demand periods, meaning that 20 percent of spaces are vacant
- Current rates are out of alignment when compared with other Canadian municipalities
- Consultation with the public, local businesses, Councillors, or BIZ groups identifies issues with parking availability
Why is the City undertaking a parking strategy?
The City of Winnipeg recognizes the importance of having a parking strategy to manage on-street and off-street parking services, developed with input from residents, businesses, hospitals, and other stakeholders who rely on effective parking and curbside management.
As we work towards developing a new five-year strategy for parking in Winnipeg, in consultation with stakeholders, we will review our services, policies, and mechanisms with the goal of improving parking convenience and accessibility. As part of the project, the City will examine how best to create parking availability in areas of high parking demand, explore curbside parking management strategies, and undertake a comprehensive review of pricing models.
What is the City doing now?
The City is immediately implementing the following action items from the Winnipeg Parking Strategy:
The immediate implementation timeline reflects the fact that these items were planned as distinct projects prior to the development of the Winnipeg Parking Strategy and have since been integrated into the Parking Strategy mid-stream, with preliminary work already underway.
Is the City recommending expanding the use of mailed parking tickets?
The City is exploring expanding the use of mail as the method of serving parking-related penalty notices generated by existing automated licence plate recognition equipment to improve the operational efficiency of parking enforcement. As this action item is dependent on the approval of the WPA’s 2021 budget, it will not proceed until the budget is approved. Additionally, there will be a public communications campaign delivered to inform the public of the changes they can expect.
Why does the City have paid on-street parking?
In areas where there is a significant demand for on-street parking and time limits alone are not appropriate to encourage turnover, the City may require drivers to pay an hourly fee for use of a parking space. Paid parking encourages drivers to use a space only for the time they require. This generates turnover among the vehicles parking on the street. In areas where there is a high demand for on-street parking, paid parking helps to ensure drivers can find an available space near their destination without having to circle the block.
What is the purpose of time-limited parking?
Time-limited parking exists in commercial and residential areas throughout the city where there is a high demand for parking. Like paid parking, time-limited parking encourages turnover of vehicles parking on the street. Time limits ensure vehicles move every hour or every two hours to free up space for other drivers.
Why is there paid parking in some areas of Winnipeg and not in others?
In some parts of the City, demand for on-street parking is sufficiently high that paid parking is the most appropriate tool to encourage turnover. In other areas, time-limited parking with no requirement to pay may be the better solution. Both the demand for on-street parking and the land use driving that demand are carefully considered when the City makes decisions on where paid parking requirements should be in effect. Without these tools, areas with high demand for parking would have vehicles parked all day and spaces available for short-term parking would be very limited.
Will the City recommend new parking rates through the Winnipeg Parking Strategy?
The City of Winnipeg recognizes the importance of having a parking strategy to manage on-street and off-street parking services, developed with input from residents, businesses, hospitals, and other stakeholders who rely on effective parking and curbside management.
As we work towards developing a new five-year strategy for parking in Winnipeg, in consultation with stakeholders, we will review our services, policies, and mechanisms with the goal of improving parking convenience and accessibility. As part of the project, the City will examine how best to create parking availability in areas of high parking demand, explore curbside parking management strategies, and undertake a comprehensive review of pricing models.
On June 26th, 2020, Council approved the reduction of all on-street paid parking rates by $0.75 per hour, following a review of the impact of the 2018 rate increase. The new rates were implemented on the mobile parking payment application on July 1, 2020 and on-street paystations were reprogrammed from July-August.
The Winnipeg Parking Strategy is not intended to provide specific recommendations on further changes to parking rates; rather, as part of the project, we will undertake a comprehensive review of academic and trade literature, and of pricing models used in other cities, to see if there are practices we could recommend in the future.
How do you decide to adjust parking rates?
The City will consider adjusting parking rates if:
When recommending any increase or decrease to parking rates, an evidence-based approach is taken to identify what price is expected to generate the target occupancy rate. The target is to have 15 percent of parking spaces available in paid parking areas, which equates to two spaces being available at any given time on a block face of 12 spaces. Occupancy and turnover trends are monitored regularly using transaction data in areas with paid parking requirements. These metrics will be supplemented, as required, with street studies conducted by vehicles equipped with automated licence plate recognition equipment.
The impact of any potential rate change is forecasted using a price-elasticity model developed by the City Economist. The price-elasticity model uses historical data on hourly rates and parking space occupancy to help determine how much the demand for paid parking is likely to change as a result of a price adjustment. Parking rate recommendations are then submitted to Council for approval.
Will the City be working with Exchange District business owners to address their concerns over bike lanes and parking rates?
We are committed to engaging members of the public and gathering their feedback to help inform our comprehensive strategy. The City has engaged directly with the Exchange District BIZ, and we will continue to reach out to stakeholders, including all BIZ groups operating in the City, throughout the public engagement process. We are committed to understanding and addressing the challenges facing residents, visitors, and businesses in areas of Winnipeg that rely on curbside management, on-street parking, and off-street parking.
What kind of issues will be addressed in the Parking Strategy?
As we work towards developing a new five-year strategy for parking in Winnipeg, in consultation with stakeholders, we will review our services, policies, and mechanisms with the goal of improving parking convenience and accessibility. As part of the project, the City will examine how best to create parking availability in areas of high parking demand, explore curbside parking management strategies, and undertake a comprehensive review of pricing models.
Will the strategy address bike lanes or construction that reduces the amount of available on-street parking?
An internal working group has been formed, composed of members from various civic departments, to help align the Winnipeg Parking Strategy with the other existing and upcoming masterplans and policy documents. This will help to ensure our efforts are coordinated, and all aspects of personal and public transportation are given appropriate consideration.
What type of off-street parking consideration will the strategy review?
While the Winnipeg Parking Strategy will focus largely on on-street parking and curbside parking management practices, it will also include off-street considerations. The City provides off-street public parking at seven surface lots and the Millennium Library Parkade. While this represents a small proportion of the publicly available surface or structured parking in Winnipeg, understanding the current challenges facing stakeholders with respect to off-street parking remains an important consideration in the development of the overall Winnipeg Parking Strategy.
What does the proposed increase to mail-out tickets mean?
The City of Winnipeg is proposing an expansion in the use of mail as the method of serving parking tickets generated by automated licence plate recognition (ALPR) equipment. Currently, most parking-related penalty notices are served by an enforcement officer manually placing the notice on a vehicle. This is a labour-intensive and time-consuming process. Increasing the proportion of penalty notices served by mail will help to increase the efficiency of parking enforcement and allow greater coverage throughout the City, and improved compliance with safety related infractions, infractions in areas with time limited parking, and better support for parking enforcement during snow clearing operations. In accordance with the Municipal By-Law Enforcement Act, a penalty notice that is mailed is deemed to have been delivered seven days after the day it was mailed. Once delivered, the registered owner of a vehicle who receives a penalty notice by mail will still have the same amount of time to pay the penalty or request a review by a Screening Officer as they would had the notice been served directly on the vehicle.
Does the Winnipeg Parking Strategy include any changes to Saturday complimentary parking?
The adoption of a Saturday Complimentary On-street Parking Policy was approved when the Winnipeg Parking Strategy conceptual framework was presented to Council in October 2020. The policy allows two hours of free parking with the option to purchase an additional two hours of paid parking (for a total of four hours) at on-street paid parking spaces. Drivers will have the option to purchase additional time either before or after they have taken advantage of the two complimentary hours, as per the current practice. Street signage will be updated to reflect the four-hour maximum time to avoid any confusion for drivers. This policy will come into effect in 2021, when all applicable signage has been posted accordingly.
The two complimentary hours will be available throughout the city, except in areas around hospitals. The purpose of complimentary Saturday parking is to support local businesses by offering motorists an opportunity to park free of charge. Areas surrounding hospitals are excluded from complimentary Saturday parking.
Existing paid parking restrictions will remain in effect from Monday to Saturday.
As it is not a departure from the current Saturday complimentary parking practice, this action will be implemented without any further stakeholder or public engagement.
What parts of the Winnipeg Parking Strategy will be addressed during stakeholder and public engagement?
The Winnipeg Parking Strategy presented to Council in October 2020 is a conceptual framework and is not intended to be a finalized document. We are going to ask stakeholders and the public for feedback on what they see as parking challenges and opportunities. We are also gathering feedback on policies for paid parking, paystations, and evening parking.