Kim the Traffic Reporters' groundbreaking 21 hour Sherbrook Avenue bike count shattered any basis to take away 25% of the parking used by inner city residents and businesses to accommodate an average of 17 cyclists per hour.
After our June report, we received a very polite email from the man responsible for the counts conducted by Bike to the Future. Jeremy Hull claimed that our data actually confirms theirs, and somehow justifies their anti-car goals being imposed through social engineering. Even on streets where their bike counts are low, by their logic it's the just like when the counts are high -- it proves they are right and need more bike lanes.
We thanked him for his email and explained that due to the Canada Day holiday our review of his email was delayed.
During this time, the city tried to slide past our request for the bike counts provided by the lobbyists that is being used to justify eliminate handicapped parking on Roslyn Road (a necessity) for a bike lane (a convenience) that was never presented to the public (an in-convenience).
Our experts have provided enough insight into the details revealed in the BttF email about Sherbrook, that combined with the way city bureaucrats have been stalling answering our questions about Roslyn Road (ie. did the city audit or review those bike counts,) we can now ask:
Which city councillor will finally call for a value audit of the Active Transportation program?
The notion of true consultation has been exposed as a sham.
- Meetings were loaded with bike activists;
- plans affecting neighbourhoods never presented in plain English to the seniors, businesses or families affected;
- and the 'use it or lose it' justification has lost any semblance of legitimacy when compared to other pressing infrastructure needs in our community.
We present the email from Bike to the Future - but first I want to specifically address one question posed directly to me in the email.
Jeremy Hull asked me: "Apart from facilities, public attitudes and education play a big role in how people view the use of bicycles. My question for you is, given the proven benefits of cycling and walking, how would you suggest that we encourage more people to use their feet and their bicycles to get from A to B?"
Here is my answer:
Jeremy, I would suggest you do what I do, and listen to the people for once instead of to the sounds of 'BttF and friends' voices in those secret meetings with city officials.
Marty Green will tell you, go to the "spoke and hub" format for routing buses so people don't have to wait longer than 10 minutes. THEN they will walk to and from the bus.
Ask the people of Berry Street, they will tell you to just fix the damn sidewalks, they'd like to walk on them.
Ask the people of Sherbrook, Jeremy. They will tell you, fix the sidewalk AND the road (and that your justification changing their neighborhood for increased HSC commuters is an unproveable hypothesis)
Ask the people of Omands Creek -oh they already told you, we already use our bikes and feet to go to the creekbed, don't ruin it for us. Listen to the people Jeremy.
***************
The following is the email from Bike to the Future with Kim's responses inserted as
* courier font *, followed by comments from 3 knowledgeable listeners:
a statistician, a city hall insider, and a well-connected bus rider.
From: Jeremy Hull
Date: Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 1:28 PM
Subject: Sherbrook bike counts
To: talk@kick.fm
Hi,
I have been coordinating Bike to the Future's volunteer bike counting effort for the past 4 years. Someone told me that the issue of bike counts on Sherbrook St had come up on The Great Canadian Talk Show, and directed me to your blog. It looks like you have incomplete information about the counts, and that you may have misunderstood some of the information you received, so I thought I would try to provide a clearer picture for you.
Although I know controversy is always popular, there may not be any actual disagreement between the numbers we have come up with in our traffic counts and the numbers that Kim, your traffic reporter, counted.
* I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with Mr. Hull over this statement. There is a significant difference between my counts and BttF's counts. Here's how: - The location of the counts were in two completely different places with entirely different dynamics. Bttf was at the Sherbrook/Maryland bridges. My count was at Sherbrook and Ellice. The dynamics of the areas are completely different in that the bridges are not extensively dealing with a residential component as is the location at which I was counting.
- Can Mr. Hull guarantee that all the cyclists coming off the bridge actually headed up Sherbrook, north of Ellice? How many cyclists turned off at Wolsely or Westminster or Portage? How many cyclists turned onto Sherbrook from any of the above mentioned streets? For that matter how many of those cyclists turned onto Ellice off Sherbrook thus never making my count?
- I sat through both morning and afternoon rush hours for the entire week, each day, yet as we take a look further down in this email BttF has no morning rush hours listed for June of this year, nor for that matter June of 2009. Thus there can be no accurate total without taking into account the morning. There are also no counts from the previous year in the morning to make a comparison. We on the other hand, were not trying to make a comparison, but instead took a count of what was actually happening in that area for cyclists.
- The BttF counts are incomplete without vehicle counts. If bikes share the road, they share with vehicles, we have to know how many of each are using the roadways. *
I believe the numbers you had received from Kevin Nixon for Sherbrook Street were actually the counts for the Sherbrook & Maryland bridges. These counts include cyclists traveling on both of the twin bridges in either direction, including those on the sidewalks. The counts have been done for a two hour period during rush hour, either in the morning or afternoon, on various mid-week days in April, May and June, starting in 2007. Here is a list of the counts we have done.
*Again, I sat through both morning and afternoon rush hours for the entire week to get an idea as to what the cycling counts look like. You cannot get an somewhat accurate picture if you don't take into account both peak times. *
Sherbrook-Maryland Bridges - Bicycle Traffic Counts - Rush Hour (Two Hours)
May 1, 2007 - AM = 214
May 1, 2007 - PM = 268
June 6, 2007 - PM = 189 * yet there is no corresponding morning count*
March 6, 2008 - PM = 22 * no AM counts and the only time the month of March appears in the counts provided.*
May 6, 2008 - PM = 285 * no AM counts *
June 13, 2008 - AM = 121 * no PM counts *
April 2, 2009 - PM = 19 * no AM counts and the only time this month appears in the counts provided. *
May 7, 2009 - PM = 113 * no AM counts *
June 3, 2009 - PM = 393 * no AM counts *
May 13, 2010 - PM = 298 * no AM counts *
June 2, 2010 - PM = 410 * no AM counts, yet our count for the same month only two weeks apart showed only 67 bikes for the afternoon peak time. That is a significant difference. The weather conditions by the way was warm and sunny with a light breeze.
- May of 2007 is the only time a count was done for both morning and afternoon peak times. For 2009 and 2010 there are NO AM counts at all. How then can a comparison be made without a corresponding morning count?
- Note also that March and April only appear once each in the 3 years of counts provided. Again I have to question how can the numbers be justified when both peak times are not taken into account and then for only a single day.
- Keep in mind that this BttF count covered both bridges whereas I was dealing with one street. Thus all counts must be halved. So instead of 410 for June 2/10, the actual count if measured against ours is 205 as we did not include Maryland in our counts.
- In the Spring count of 2009 Jeremy Hull said "Comparisons of morning and afternoon counts at the same locations suggest that afternoon counts are about 28% higher on average than morning counts." Yet as we can see, there are no comparison numbers with which to match for morning or afternoon counts in most cases listed here. So I have to once again ask, how can a comparison be made without corresponding counts? To my mind that would make the numbers and percentages quoted suspect when you only have a partial total for the counts. *
You can see from this that the numbers are variable. They are very dependent on the weather - some of the low counts happened when it was raining. You can also see that they are getting higher as time goes by. This is a general trend that I have found in Winnipeg over the past 4 years. In 2008 the numbers increased by an average of 16%, in 2009 the numbers decreased by 10%, and in 2010 the numbers increased by 22%. Overall there has been a 27% increase over three years (controlling for location and time of day).
* Ok now this doesn't make sense. Again, there are no morning counts on the same days in the same months, so how can there be an accurate total indicating increases or decreases in the amount of cyclists riding for those days? If I were a mathematician I could make these numbers say anything I wanted them to because they are averaged. These numbers are samples only and should be looked at as such instead of being taken as fact. I have to ask, is having an average number which may or may not be truly accurate be the basis upon which we wish to spend not only the millions of dollars for active transportation? But also how much money for snow clearing and road repairs, for which we as taxpayers must all pay. *
These rush hour numbers represent only a portion of the whole day, an estimated 20% of the total 24 hour traffic volume. This means that the peak traffic on the Sherbrook-Maryland bridges, over 24 hours, would be in the area of 1500-2000. This is one of the highest bicycle traffic locations in Winnipeg, with the Norwood Bridge and the Osborne Bridge having similar volumes of bicycle traffic.
* I have to ask how do you arrive at the number of 1500-2000 bikes over a 24 hour period? Really are there going to be hundreds of cyclists travelling over these bridges at 3:00 in the morning? I have to ask not only Jeremy Hull, but also the likes of Anders Swanson and Mark Cohoe if they are regularly out cycling at that time of the night? You know when most people are well ... sleeping.
- These numbers are completely unrealistic. And again, has nothing to do with the counts we performed on Sherbrook at Ellice.
- Can Jeremy Hull tell us that all those supposed bikes will travel straight up Sherbrook and onto the HSC? In Winter as well? Because if he really believes that then have I got a bridge with his name on it and I'll sell it a reasonable price.
But I gather the area that people have been concerned about is Sherbrook St near Ellice. On May 5 of this year we did a couple of counts on Sherbrook St at Cumberland, much closer to the section you are talking about, and the numbers there were much lower - 25 in the morning and 21 in the afternoon (including sidewalks). Of course this is a one way street and traffic going south would be on Maryland. Still, these are low numbers. To my mind they point to the need for a bike lane to accommodate cyclists.
*Again I would have to disagree, to my mind it shows that a dedicated bike lane is not necessary when one combines the amount of vehicles versus the amount of cyclists. - Not only the cyclists, but also the residents of the neighbourhood. It seems as if it's a case of the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many. *
There are a lot of people who would like to use a bicycle more often to get to and from work (like the Health Sciences Centre) or school and other activities. It is relatively cheap to accommodate cyclists and encourage them, and in the long run there are lots of potential savings to the taxpayer in terms of reduced health costs because people are more fit, and reduced road congestion and need for road construction. It has been shown in many places that when there are good bicycle lanes or paths more people use bicycles. So the low number of cyclists currently using Sherbrook St. is a statement about our failure to provide adequate facilities and education in support of cycling.
* Exactly how many are headed to HSC? At 3 in the morning? Or for that matter during normal daytime hours? Can we get some counts on that? Well at least Hull's not saying these people are going to be stopping in at the businesses along Ellice or Sherbrook to shop.
- It is foolish to think that we won't need road construction for a reduced amount of cars because of a bike lane that will encourage people to ride a bike. Just because and yes let's bring up Europe here, even though that continent isn't named, we've all heard it before. The fact we can take many European nations, put them into one of our lakes such as oh Lake Winnipeg and still have room left over isn't mentioned.
- People have known about cycling for many years. What about the gentleman who has the mint condition 1955 Studebaker who stops in at the Ellice Cafe every morning? Should we tell him he can't enjoy that unique vehicle anymore because he has to get on a bike? Every summer part of St. Mary Ave. is shut down on Wednesday I believe for the car enthusiasts. Should we now tell them to get rid of those cars for a bike? I have a strong feeling that thought would not go over well. *
Apart from facilities, public attitudes and education play a big role in how people view the use of bicycles. My question for you is, given the proven benefits of cycling and walking, how would you suggest that we encourage more people to use their feet and their bicycles to get from A to B?
* Mr. Hull what you fail to understand is that cycling is a choice. Public attitudes and education would not change that fact. If someone is dictating to me that I should do this or that is a sure fire way to ensure I will do the exact opposite. Now for some, cycling is the only method of travel perhaps in part due to an economic situation. However, this does not give anyone the right to tell others they HAVE to do anything.
- If anyone wants to travel outside this city they MUST use some form of vehicular travel (perhaps a case could be made that an airplane is a vehicle). If I decide I want to head to Falcon Lake for a cup of coffee, I would have to leave days or a week in advance, now that just isn't practical. The automobile is here to stay. Get used to that idea. - I keep hearing about "public attitudes", yet in all the conversations I've had with people regarding bikes, the vast majority all say the same thing. If you want to cycle go ahead. Just don't force it on anyone else.
- Perhaps it's not the motoring public who needs the education. The most common theme I've heard from people is ... educate the cyclist. Educate the cyclist on the rules of the road and then ticket them when they fail to obey the same traffic rules as others, hold them accountable for their actions. Make the cyclists pay insurance for when they cause an accident and they do. Can't even begin to count the amount of times I've seen accidents averted due to the swift reflexes of a driver because a cyclist decided the rules didn't apply to them. Sadly all I hear are cyclists whining because they have to stop and start along the roadway. Well here's news for you, as a pedestrian, I stop and start all the time and it's not a problem. Or the cyclists cry out that they get a ticket. Believe me when I say I've spoken with many people and again, educating the cyclists is a very common theme.
- There is ample room on the roadways for cyclists to travel. Putting in bike lanes isn't the issue, it's putting them in places that make sense. Sherbrook, not making as much sense.
By the way, I would be interested in the details of the counts that Kim did on Sherbrook St. Would you be able to share them with me?
* I'll get them together for him *
Jeremy Hull
Bike to the Future
**********************
Analysis:
1) from a Statistician:
He is a researcher, owning ProLogica research? but he's 'coordinating' a volunteer effort... I'd like to see the full write up of their methodology, selection criteria, sampling methods, etc. Unfortunately it looks like he has a dog in this fight as he signs off with "Bike to the Future", kind of a conflict of interest I'd say. You should NEVER have an interested party (volunteer bike activists) doing the research.
I've only looked at the Sherbrook/Maryland bridge numbers. His use of the bridge as a sample point was good - roadway and sidewalk - ensures that he's captured all the traffic funnelling across that bridge(s). But I see problems as well. Rush hour only - 2 hours morning or afternoon, which two hours? Why only 2 morning samples and 9 pm samples? Morning average is 168, afternoon avg is 222. Variability - low of 19, high of 410, but no attempt to explain the variation other than "raining".
Why not actually stop some riders and do a quick survey? Where are you going? Do you ride every day? Was there a bike rally downtown that day? Why only May and June as main months of survey? What is bike use like in July, November, and January?
Extrapolation - to get to his 1,500 and 2,000 numbers, he's assuming that the rush hour traffic rate occurs all day long, even at 3 a.m.
(300 / 20% of day - 1,500 bikes per day, 400/ 20% = 2,000). Completely unsubstantiated, and he's using his max. numbers, not averages, so it's inflated.
Rush hours (2 hrs morning, 2 hrs, evening) represent 16.7% of the day.
Average of all is 212, divide by 0.167 gives 1,269 bikes per day. But again that assumes that rush-hour rate goes on all day long, even at 3 am.
Let's see some counts at non-rush hours before making that claim.
I don't like his terminology here; "This means that the peak traffic on the Sherbrook-Maryland bridges, over 24 hours, would be in the area of 1500-2000. "
Peak traffic is not over 24 hours, but the PEAK traffic rate over a small period of time. And the numbers 1500-2000 actually means estimated total bikes per day. Imprecise / sloppy description.
That's a quick read on it anyway. T
PS: Keep up the good work on these bike lobby clowns. I take the bus to work going towards the Bay downtown, every day. I can count on one hand the number of cyclists using the diamond lane that my bus encounters in a WEEK. I know because the bus has to slow down and then change lanes whenever they encounter a cyclist.
Meanwhile all the remaining traffic on Portage has to fit into three crowded lanes, while the diamond lane is essentially empty. This was an absurd policy to enact. Money wasted, nobody consulted, just one single interest group who was favoured. And you know what's worse? The buses don't even get downtown any faster than they did before.
2) from a City Hall insider:
Marty
The City of Winnipeg has failed miserably by not accurately quantifying bike counts resulting in the 'smoke and mirrors' attitude on behalf of the bike lobby. The City has the ability to accurately count vehicular traffic and transit counts but for some unknown reason they fail at counting bike traffic. Maybe because if they did the data would not warrant the expenditure of millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Just saying....
***********************
3) from a Well-connected bus rider:
Marty,
Of course the bike counts are higher at the Maryland/Sherbrook street bridges: You have St. Mary's Academy and Balmoral Hall school (as well as another Westgate Mennonite Collegiate on East Gate) with students going back and forth by bike. So yes, a bike path there actually makes sense - though not necessarily at the cost of losing one lane of traffic on either bridge or road.
Kill off one sidewalk or some grassy boulevard space so that the kids don't get hit by traffic. As to a bike count at Maryland/Sherbrook being comparable to a bike count at Sherbrook and Ellice: Horse hockey. That's like comparing bike traffic on the Chief Peguis Bridge (fairly low) to bike traffic at Main and the entrance to Kildonan Park. (very high).
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Canada Day contradictions abound from Parking Authority
July 1st "Parking Authority open house" report highlights:
* The Osborne Village Parking survey is largely unknown to area residents
* 24 hour a day paid parking was experimented with on the inner-cities poorest streets, under the false premise that the city did consultations with residents;
* the WPA has been part and parcel of the Bike Lobby attempts to seize control of city streets from residents and drivers;
* Numerous contradictions between the information provided by Dave Hill at the Exchange Biz open house (reported yesterday), and the July 1st open house. "The problem isn't the questions, it's getting the answers"
**************
From: Kim the Traffic Reporter
* The Osborne Village Parking survey is largely unknown to area residents
* 24 hour a day paid parking was experimented with on the inner-cities poorest streets, under the false premise that the city did consultations with residents;
* the WPA has been part and parcel of the Bike Lobby attempts to seize control of city streets from residents and drivers;
* Numerous contradictions between the information provided by Dave Hill at the Exchange Biz open house (reported yesterday), and the July 1st open house. "The problem isn't the questions, it's getting the answers"
**************
From: Kim the Traffic Reporter
To: talk@kick.fm
Subject: Re: July 1 Osborne parking survey open house
Subject: Re: July 1 Osborne parking survey open house
On July 1st at about 1pm I was headed down Osborne from River headed for the Osborne Parking Survey open house. There was already a huge amount of people in the Osborne Village. As I approached the Stradbrook lot I noted a couple of rows of books for sale. Got to the lot, for the open house and couldn't find it. I saw recycling bins and port-a-potties in the lot, but nothing for the survey.
Went back out of the lot and looked around, didn't see any signs telling me they were in the vicinity. Went back into the lot and spoke with a couple of Police Officers, who were kind enough to point out a table under the trees at the front of the lot, near the books.
I recognized MMM Group Project Manager David Patman and then I realized I had stood just behind the table when I was looking around and still hadn't noticed the survey people. I thought the people at the table where looking after the books.
I approached the front of the table and noted that only a about 2ft tall sign that said Parking Authority on it, was the only indication for the survey. There were three consultants available from MMM Group and two representatives from the Parking Authority, one of whom I know has enforcement experience.
- I asked David Patman if they had been busy and was told that it was off and on, paper copies of the survey was on hand for people to fill out. However, in the time I was at the table only a couple of people approached, one of whom wanted to know if they were handling the sale of the books.
In fact, someone I knew went to take the survey, he walked past the table..twice. Then he had to call me to finally find the survey table. The other two or three people only wanted to speak with the Parking Authority.
My friend filled out the survey, after he finally found the table, telling me that he could find no purpose and simply didn't understand the survey. That there was no information as to what they (Osborne Biz and the Parking Authority) wanted to do, the survey was "confusing and didn't make any sense".
- My friend did stop to speak briefly with the Parking Authority about the $40.00 coupon booklet people could purchase, the coupons act as a permit allowing one to park for increments of two to four hours without having to plug the meter. My friend thought this was "silly". He was told that for more information you can check out the website. My friend asked "what if you don't have a computer?" According to my friend, the only response he received was a "blank look".
- I spoke with the member representing the Parking Authority, who would only identify himself as Henry.
One question which has recently been raised on the Great Canadian Talk Show is whether or not people have to cross a street to purchase a paystation receipt if the machine is broken or isn't one on the side of a street where a person is parked.
I asked Henry that very same question, his response was "yes, people have to cross the street, that's what we tell them".
Yet a couple of days previously I had contacted the Parking Authority dispatcher, asking the same question, the response was "no" -- that people didn't have to cross the street or go to another block to get a receipt.
This means that if the paystation is broken or if there are signs for paid parking, yet no machine, people still have to go in search of a machine for a receipt or risk being ticketed.
Although Marty Gold has raised the question, is the City or the Winnipeg Parking Authority going to assume the responsibility if someone should be injured if they have to hunt down a functional paystation? Interesting question.
- I asked Henry about the 12 hour paid parking on some streets in the Exchange District. Henry did admit that there are thoughts of putting more 12 hour machines in place, Henry then admitted that those machines are actually 24 hours a day Monday through Saturday. Paid parking is in 12 hour increments with a paid maximum of $8.00.
Yet on April 22/10 the Exchange District Biz had a members-only coffee meeting with Dave Hill the COO of the Parking Authority. In that meeting I asked Hill if the Parking Authority or the City would support paid overnight parking on residential streets, Hill's response was "I don't think there is any paid overnight parking in the City".
I asked if the Parking Authority would support paid metered overnight parking, Hill's reply was "if there was a need and was asked to do it, but I don't think there is currently a need".
At the time of that meeting there was paid overnight parking on Ross, Duncan, Galt and George all of which are in residential areas.
- I asked Henry about consultation and if people on Fountain, Ellen or other residential streets that had received paystations, what notice were those people given? Were they consulted? Henry responded that "they had talked to people in that area" and the businesses and residents had been informed by City Council or their councillors.
Now, I've spoken with numerous people on those streets and was told that the only indications they had about the paystations was when they went up. In fact, the businesses along Logan knew nothing about these stations.
Cheers restaurant at Fountain and Logan knew nothing about these machines, when this business raised questions about why the meters were put in the response was the meters were put in because of the WRHA building, on Main Street. Not one person with whom I'd spoken knew anything about these paystations.
- I asked about the proposed bike lanes throughout the city and if the Parking Authority had been consulted about any of these plans. Henry replied that "yes the bike lanes are going in" and that "the Parking Authority has been consulted because this involves parking".
At the Apr. 22/10 Exchange Biz "coffee with the parking guy" meeting, I asked Dave Hill about on-street parking for bikes and he suggested that the Parking Authority "work with Active Transportation to find some spots to put some temporary platforms with some bike racks, similar to what is seen in Europe."
Belinda Squance of the Ellice Cafe mentioned several times in interviews on the Great Canadian Talk Show that she asked Dave Hill if the Parking Authority had been consulted or informed of the new bike lane plans for Sherbrook. According to Belinda Squance, the answer was "no". That Hill had never been consulted regarding Sherbrook.
This information was also mentioned at the June 8th meeting at City Hall regarding the bike lane issues on Sherbrook.
- Was this "open house" a success? Likely there were quite a few people who filled out the survey. After all there was thousands upon thousands of people in the Village for the Canada Day celebrations. Yet the question must be asked, was this a fair representation of the residents and regular visitors to the Osborne area? How many of the people attending were on Osborne for the sole purpose of the celebrations?
I spoke with many people along the side streets who knew nothing of this survey or it's purpose. People who live in the community and never knew anything about this parking survey.
After all for any of the Biz organizations, their first priority is going to be to the members of that Biz, be it Osborne, Downtown, Exchange etc.
Those Biz's are not there for the general community but for the membership of those organizations. So it is not very surprising that residents had no knowledge of a survey that could very well involve paid parking in their neighbourhoods.
- Another question to raise is if the Osborne area gets metered parking, how will this affect Corydon? After all you can't look at one area and forget the other. How far would metered parking be allowed on the streets. You can't park on Osborne until after 7pm any day of the week. So if the residential streets receive meters, how will that affect the parking situation around Corydon, which is an already congested area, as people seek unpaid parking?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kim's Thoughts:
I have to wonder how many people actually planned on showing up to take that survey. We can't count my friend as I asked him to take it. Which raises another issue..finding the "open house". I knew where it was supposed to be and couldn't find it. I
My friend who doesn't know the area very well, walked past the survey table TWICE before with my help, finding it. And he was looking for this table.
So I do have to wonder how representative of the community this survey truly is, at the first open house there were 10 to 12 people. At the Canada Day celebrations, how many people filled out the survey just because it happened to be there while they waited in line?
But as I was told "see the Parking Authority is here".
Only problem is, we are being given conflicting information:
* Yes you have to cross the street to purchase a paystation receipt or no you don't have to?
* Is there a definitive policy on the issue of crossing the street or going to another block to find a working paystation?
* Did Dave Hill yes know about the bike lanes that are being proposed all over the city or no Hill never knew about the plans for Sherbrook? Yet Hill has been talking to the Active Transportation Advisory Committee about bike parking.
After this survey, will the Osborne Biz and the Parking Authority say that people have been "consulted"? That they had "open houses"? If one could...well...find them. The first open house took me 15 minutes to find. Unless you knew exactly where you were going you weren't going to find this place, I had to stop and ask for directions. I couldn't find the second one and I was looking for it. Even the Police Officers had to smile at the expression on my face when they told me where to find what I was seeking.
Lots of questions with more to be raised I'm sure. The problem isn't the questions, it's getting the answers. We wait to see how the community responds to the parking issues in their neighbourhoods.
Went back out of the lot and looked around, didn't see any signs telling me they were in the vicinity. Went back into the lot and spoke with a couple of Police Officers, who were kind enough to point out a table under the trees at the front of the lot, near the books.
I recognized MMM Group Project Manager David Patman and then I realized I had stood just behind the table when I was looking around and still hadn't noticed the survey people. I thought the people at the table where looking after the books.
I approached the front of the table and noted that only a about 2ft tall sign that said Parking Authority on it, was the only indication for the survey. There were three consultants available from MMM Group and two representatives from the Parking Authority, one of whom I know has enforcement experience.
- I asked David Patman if they had been busy and was told that it was off and on, paper copies of the survey was on hand for people to fill out. However, in the time I was at the table only a couple of people approached, one of whom wanted to know if they were handling the sale of the books.
In fact, someone I knew went to take the survey, he walked past the table..twice. Then he had to call me to finally find the survey table. The other two or three people only wanted to speak with the Parking Authority.
My friend filled out the survey, after he finally found the table, telling me that he could find no purpose and simply didn't understand the survey. That there was no information as to what they (Osborne Biz and the Parking Authority) wanted to do, the survey was "confusing and didn't make any sense".
- My friend did stop to speak briefly with the Parking Authority about the $40.00 coupon booklet people could purchase, the coupons act as a permit allowing one to park for increments of two to four hours without having to plug the meter. My friend thought this was "silly". He was told that for more information you can check out the website. My friend asked "what if you don't have a computer?" According to my friend, the only response he received was a "blank look".
- I spoke with the member representing the Parking Authority, who would only identify himself as Henry.
One question which has recently been raised on the Great Canadian Talk Show is whether or not people have to cross a street to purchase a paystation receipt if the machine is broken or isn't one on the side of a street where a person is parked.
I asked Henry that very same question, his response was "yes, people have to cross the street, that's what we tell them".
Yet a couple of days previously I had contacted the Parking Authority dispatcher, asking the same question, the response was "no" -- that people didn't have to cross the street or go to another block to get a receipt.
This means that if the paystation is broken or if there are signs for paid parking, yet no machine, people still have to go in search of a machine for a receipt or risk being ticketed.
Although Marty Gold has raised the question, is the City or the Winnipeg Parking Authority going to assume the responsibility if someone should be injured if they have to hunt down a functional paystation? Interesting question.
- I asked Henry about the 12 hour paid parking on some streets in the Exchange District. Henry did admit that there are thoughts of putting more 12 hour machines in place, Henry then admitted that those machines are actually 24 hours a day Monday through Saturday. Paid parking is in 12 hour increments with a paid maximum of $8.00.
Yet on April 22/10 the Exchange District Biz had a members-only coffee meeting with Dave Hill the COO of the Parking Authority. In that meeting I asked Hill if the Parking Authority or the City would support paid overnight parking on residential streets, Hill's response was "I don't think there is any paid overnight parking in the City".
I asked if the Parking Authority would support paid metered overnight parking, Hill's reply was "if there was a need and was asked to do it, but I don't think there is currently a need".
At the time of that meeting there was paid overnight parking on Ross, Duncan, Galt and George all of which are in residential areas.
- I asked Henry about consultation and if people on Fountain, Ellen or other residential streets that had received paystations, what notice were those people given? Were they consulted? Henry responded that "they had talked to people in that area" and the businesses and residents had been informed by City Council or their councillors.
Now, I've spoken with numerous people on those streets and was told that the only indications they had about the paystations was when they went up. In fact, the businesses along Logan knew nothing about these stations.
Cheers restaurant at Fountain and Logan knew nothing about these machines, when this business raised questions about why the meters were put in the response was the meters were put in because of the WRHA building, on Main Street. Not one person with whom I'd spoken knew anything about these paystations.
- I asked about the proposed bike lanes throughout the city and if the Parking Authority had been consulted about any of these plans. Henry replied that "yes the bike lanes are going in" and that "the Parking Authority has been consulted because this involves parking".
At the Apr. 22/10 Exchange Biz "coffee with the parking guy" meeting, I asked Dave Hill about on-street parking for bikes and he suggested that the Parking Authority "work with Active Transportation to find some spots to put some temporary platforms with some bike racks, similar to what is seen in Europe."
Belinda Squance of the Ellice Cafe mentioned several times in interviews on the Great Canadian Talk Show that she asked Dave Hill if the Parking Authority had been consulted or informed of the new bike lane plans for Sherbrook. According to Belinda Squance, the answer was "no". That Hill had never been consulted regarding Sherbrook.
This information was also mentioned at the June 8th meeting at City Hall regarding the bike lane issues on Sherbrook.
- Was this "open house" a success? Likely there were quite a few people who filled out the survey. After all there was thousands upon thousands of people in the Village for the Canada Day celebrations. Yet the question must be asked, was this a fair representation of the residents and regular visitors to the Osborne area? How many of the people attending were on Osborne for the sole purpose of the celebrations?
I spoke with many people along the side streets who knew nothing of this survey or it's purpose. People who live in the community and never knew anything about this parking survey.
After all for any of the Biz organizations, their first priority is going to be to the members of that Biz, be it Osborne, Downtown, Exchange etc.
Those Biz's are not there for the general community but for the membership of those organizations. So it is not very surprising that residents had no knowledge of a survey that could very well involve paid parking in their neighbourhoods.
- Another question to raise is if the Osborne area gets metered parking, how will this affect Corydon? After all you can't look at one area and forget the other. How far would metered parking be allowed on the streets. You can't park on Osborne until after 7pm any day of the week. So if the residential streets receive meters, how will that affect the parking situation around Corydon, which is an already congested area, as people seek unpaid parking?
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Kim's Thoughts:
I have to wonder how many people actually planned on showing up to take that survey. We can't count my friend as I asked him to take it. Which raises another issue..finding the "open house". I knew where it was supposed to be and couldn't find it. I
My friend who doesn't know the area very well, walked past the survey table TWICE before with my help, finding it. And he was looking for this table.
So I do have to wonder how representative of the community this survey truly is, at the first open house there were 10 to 12 people. At the Canada Day celebrations, how many people filled out the survey just because it happened to be there while they waited in line?
But as I was told "see the Parking Authority is here".
Only problem is, we are being given conflicting information:
* Yes you have to cross the street to purchase a paystation receipt or no you don't have to?
* Is there a definitive policy on the issue of crossing the street or going to another block to find a working paystation?
* Did Dave Hill yes know about the bike lanes that are being proposed all over the city or no Hill never knew about the plans for Sherbrook? Yet Hill has been talking to the Active Transportation Advisory Committee about bike parking.
After this survey, will the Osborne Biz and the Parking Authority say that people have been "consulted"? That they had "open houses"? If one could...well...find them. The first open house took me 15 minutes to find. Unless you knew exactly where you were going you weren't going to find this place, I had to stop and ask for directions. I couldn't find the second one and I was looking for it. Even the Police Officers had to smile at the expression on my face when they told me where to find what I was seeking.
Lots of questions with more to be raised I'm sure. The problem isn't the questions, it's getting the answers. We wait to see how the community responds to the parking issues in their neighbourhoods.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Confusion Corner: Dave Hill's 'Coffee with the Parking Guy', April 22nd
In April, Kim the Traffic Reporter and consultant Bob Axford attended one of those highly touted "Coffee with the parking guy" get-togethers that features Parking Authority czar Dave Hill attempting to engage in a Q and A with area BIZ members.
If the April 22 session with the Exchange District Biz is any indication, election-bound city councillors had better get ready to ask their own questions of the "award-winning" Hill before going door to door and soliciting support from disgruntled Winnipeg drivers.
Hill, most importantly confirmed what WPA victims Jason Ross and Phillip Fletcher have told us on-air, the Special Operating Agency (SOA) has NO complaint protocol whatsoever and all power is vested in Hill.
Ross was illegally towed by the WPA, as was Fletcher; the former claims he was assaulted at the WPA offices when he complained and the video did not get into the hands of police, while the latter was immediately slapped with a lien when he challenged the towing ticket and had it tossed out of court (ie an illegal lien).
Just last week, we broke the news that the Provincial Ombudsman ruled that the WPA breached Fletcher's privacy in 2 different ways, once by illegally taking his picture and then by leaking personal information in a smear to Coun. Mike Pagtakhan after Fletcher complained to the councillor. Fletcher has demanded a personal apology from both Mayor Katz and from Mr. "I AM the complaint department" Hill, who according to Fletcher denied either incident even occured.
Only 5 Exchange Biz members bothered to show up to the hastily called PR exercise. The Biz has thus far refused to hold another, more properly advertised and suitable for area businesses (ie a morning) session despite the request of Kick-FM management.
What follows is a very very long report from Kim that includes such areas as:
* Hill's excuses for refusing to enforce disabled permit, Saturday overtime parking, and other bylaws;
* his claims that the new pay stations (which flunked our time-compliance audit at the rate of 60%) somehow trump the long long-established bylaw that boulevard and street signage designating time limits;
* his desire for expanded powers and the battle inside city hall;
* a plan to enact evening paid parking in areas like downtown and Corydon/Acadamy, and that the meters on Selkirk that are opposed by mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis actually "work great";
* Hill maintaining that inner-city neighborhoods were consulted on new paid parking in front of their homes 'by the city'
* that drivers in wholesale-city place a tertiary priority on "price", and that council is sidestepping the bylaw to give him blanket powers to charge whatever he wants for as long as he wants
* his denial 24 hour paid parking including Sundays existed on Ross and other inner-city streets (Coun. Jeff Browaty has seen the receipts that prove him wrong);
* Hill's assertion that meters near the Concert Hall have made the area safer, and that he'd like to boost rates in the area
* turning over scarce parking spots to the Bike Lobby
* sees public accountability sessions as unnecessary
* Hill's potential conflict-of-interest and questions about sole-sourced contracts
Plus assorted other contradictions, lack of familiarity with the bylaws, no genuine review of the 5 year performance of the WPA by city council ...
and if that isn't enough, WAIT TILL TOMORROW to learn how WPA officials told a different story than their boss on more than a few parking matters, to the Canada Day crowd in Osborne Village, right around the bend from the 'other' Confusion Corner.
If the April 22 session with the Exchange District Biz is any indication, election-bound city councillors had better get ready to ask their own questions of the "award-winning" Hill before going door to door and soliciting support from disgruntled Winnipeg drivers.
Hill, most importantly confirmed what WPA victims Jason Ross and Phillip Fletcher have told us on-air, the Special Operating Agency (SOA) has NO complaint protocol whatsoever and all power is vested in Hill.
Ross was illegally towed by the WPA, as was Fletcher; the former claims he was assaulted at the WPA offices when he complained and the video did not get into the hands of police, while the latter was immediately slapped with a lien when he challenged the towing ticket and had it tossed out of court (ie an illegal lien).
Just last week, we broke the news that the Provincial Ombudsman ruled that the WPA breached Fletcher's privacy in 2 different ways, once by illegally taking his picture and then by leaking personal information in a smear to Coun. Mike Pagtakhan after Fletcher complained to the councillor. Fletcher has demanded a personal apology from both Mayor Katz and from Mr. "I AM the complaint department" Hill, who according to Fletcher denied either incident even occured.
Only 5 Exchange Biz members bothered to show up to the hastily called PR exercise. The Biz has thus far refused to hold another, more properly advertised and suitable for area businesses (ie a morning) session despite the request of Kick-FM management.
What follows is a very very long report from Kim that includes such areas as:
* Hill's excuses for refusing to enforce disabled permit, Saturday overtime parking, and other bylaws;
* his claims that the new pay stations (which flunked our time-compliance audit at the rate of 60%) somehow trump the long long-established bylaw that boulevard and street signage designating time limits;
* his desire for expanded powers and the battle inside city hall;
* a plan to enact evening paid parking in areas like downtown and Corydon/Acadamy, and that the meters on Selkirk that are opposed by mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis actually "work great";
* Hill maintaining that inner-city neighborhoods were consulted on new paid parking in front of their homes 'by the city'
* that drivers in wholesale-city place a tertiary priority on "price", and that council is sidestepping the bylaw to give him blanket powers to charge whatever he wants for as long as he wants
* his denial 24 hour paid parking including Sundays existed on Ross and other inner-city streets (Coun. Jeff Browaty has seen the receipts that prove him wrong);
* Hill's assertion that meters near the Concert Hall have made the area safer, and that he'd like to boost rates in the area
* turning over scarce parking spots to the Bike Lobby
* sees public accountability sessions as unnecessary
* Hill's potential conflict-of-interest and questions about sole-sourced contracts
Plus assorted other contradictions, lack of familiarity with the bylaws, no genuine review of the 5 year performance of the WPA by city council ...
and if that isn't enough, WAIT TILL TOMORROW to learn how WPA officials told a different story than their boss on more than a few parking matters, to the Canada Day crowd in Osborne Village, right around the bend from the 'other' Confusion Corner.
********************
The coffee meeting with "the parking guy" at 75 Albert St., hosted by the Exchange District Biz on April 22/10 at 5pm had five Biz members (not included were myself, Bob Axford and the representative from the Biz, Jarret).
This meeting is an informal session for the members of the Exchange District Biz to discuss and ask questions about concerns or thoughts about parking issues.
Dave Hill began this discussion by giving a few reasons for the sessions as well as an overview of what the Parking Authority was, along with who was on the Board of Directors and Advisory Board.
Reasons for this session:
-general discussions with people around Winnipeg and with the Biz's who the P.A. talks to on a fairly regular basis.
-kind of open forum type of activity occasionally with local stakeholders
Dave Hill the COO of the Parking Authority explains what the Parking Authority is:
-municipal agency under auspices of City Council
-just like a City department except it has a little more latitude in how it operates
-don't have to go to council as much
-still respond to council, by-laws, council's directions with a little more latitude
-little more defined mandate
-run year to year with broad direction from council
Board of Directors are:
- The Chief Administrative Officer of the City
- His 3 deputies
- Representative from Legal Services
- Representative from Public Affairs
- Representative from Traffic Engineering
Advisory Board Members are:
Major stakeholders:
-Downtown Winnipeg Biz
-Exchange District Biz
-West End Biz
-The Forks
-Centre Venture
-Destination Winnipeg
(No residential groups represented, no elected representation)
The advisory board meets at the Parking Authority, according to Dave Hill "we just do stuff".
Dave Hill stated he was in charge of:
-on-street parking meters
-enforcement city wide
-doesnt' get to make enforcement regulations
-does get to interpret them a little bit
-does get to make recommendations to those who do make regulations with Public Works
-off-street parking lots which the city owns.
Some of the questions/comments discussed are as follows:
Comment was raised about to many loading zones, in particular 24hr zones in the city, including in front of buildings which are bricked up. Was there anything the Parking Authority could do to either remove some of the zones or convert some to time limited zones?
Hill's response:
-agreed there are to many 24hr loading zones
-Director of public works has responsibility for estabilshment of on-street regulations (no-stopping areas, no parking areas etc.)
-been trying to get that swung over to the Parking Authority, so the P.A. can do a cull, rationalize it (been trying for 5 years).
-was told in January by Brad Sacher (Director of Public Works) public works would delegate that to the Parking Authority shortly (including loading zones and timed parking).
-Public Works a little reluctant to give up that mandate.
-would open a lot of parking
-it's not about revenue, it's about the inefficient use of space.
There were questions and issues raised about handicap parking and the misuse of disability permits. Some of the questions asked were "there seems to be a miscommunication between you folks and SMD".
The person asking the question went on to say "SMD tells all of their clients you have free parking as long as you have that sign on your dash as for as long as you on any meter area the city owns". "You guys say no you have twice what you pay for". Anther issue raised was the abuse of disability permits. The issue being that the permits are being misued and what can be done about it.
Hill's response:
-by-law states do have to pay at meters even with a ministry permit
-council asked P.A to relax rules
-agrees there is abuse of these permits
-SMD has control of permit program and has pull with council
-by-law states they have to pay, it's not currently being enforced
Can the Parking Authority put notices on the vehicles? Hill states "they do that". "Not always, but they do". Hill further does go on to say there is a misuse of the program.
Question asked:
Parking Authority and SMD should be working together, SMD transmitting expired permits or permits of people deceased, then confiscate those permits when come across them. When ticketing handicap permits, allowed four hours, chalk the vehice. After 4 hours, come back issue the ticket.
Hill's response:
-would be helpful if SMD would share the information (SMD USED to transmit this information to the P.A., if the permit was found in some cases were told to confiscate if possible, if not get make, model and plate number of the vehicle. Enforcement staff USED to call in to dispatch with permit number suspected of being abused or KNOWN to be abused which was then called into SMD, until the P.A. told dispatch and the enforcement staff to stop because it was time consuming).
-due to privacy purposes, choose not to share information
-SMD is an agency of the Province, empowered SMD to run disability parking program province wide
-SMD sets terms and conditions of purchase and management of disability permits
-P.A. responds to council as to how to enforce them
-police don't empower the P.A. to confiscate things
-not in business of confiscating things, business of marking parking violations
A question was asked about "why would the city not have used the Square parkade as collateral to either repair aging facilities or build new ones instead of selling it for a pittance of what it's actually worth."
Hill's response:
-this is a political question
-would have been one option for that facility
-the thinking was:
* it could be sold to private sector relieving city from requirement to do some structural maintenance on building because it was 30 years old; council did not want to bear that burden
* could get cash out of it
* thinking it would still be a parkade, still operating at same standards
* get money out of it, go build new one
* council's call
I asked Dave Hill if he could please explain about tickets issued around Red River College last year that were issued to improper signage, was the Parking Authority in breach of the by-law? Paystations went in the signage remained 2hr limited time parking, no paystation logo.
Hill's response:
-sign designated time limit, meter designated terms and conditions under which payment was made
This had been limited time parking, had nothing to do with meters. Signage conflicted with meters.
Hill's response:
-it had always been like that
-in old metering system signage stated the amount of time parking permitted
-in areas of city where meters had been established, time regulation posted on a regular sign, city wide, all around the city
-meter was a payment device, on the meter was the terms and conditions for payment under that 2 hour sign.
-upgraded to new system, got new sign which reinforces fact that it's two hours and payment is to be made at the paystation
-real regulation says that the payment device is the thing that provides the instruction
I asked the question a second time as I felt the by-law question hadn't been addresed, was the Parking Authority in breach of by-laws when the paystations went in around Red River College with improper signage?
Hill's response:
-proposed a pilot project to put some pay units in there
-council approved project
-we installed the machines
-the signs took a little while to change over to the new signs
-allowed under the by-law by the old signage program
-new signs provide extra information
The issue of free parking on Saturdays was raised, one comment was that it is different for retail outlets than those who work in offices. One of the attending members stated that "if free parking was free across the board on Saturdays, there would be grid lock and there would be no place for those who wanted to shop, where do you put them? People who are working are taking up all the spots."
Hill's response:
-historically way we manage parking in the city is through regulation
-use the regulatory tool, decrease the amount of time people can park and hand out a lot of parking tickets
-was told "No we don't want this anymore, we want a more reasonable, rationale way to do this"
-can make a restrictive regulatory environment or can ease up make and environment where payment is used to turnover the vehicles, little less regulation
-is performance based pricing
-asked council to allow the Parking Authority to operate pilot programs in some areas where the Parking Authority charges differential rates at differential times see what the results are, see whether it's good or bad, understand the dynamics of the area.
-always had a problem enforcing 2 hours free parking, didn't have a mechanism to do it
-have to chalk the tire, find out what time to start, go back later prove they (the vehicle) was there to long
-the only way to actually time people parking on Saturday is to walk around downtown with enforcement
-not the optics for whats wanted on Saturdays
-have lots of options
-went to biz's said the Parking Authority was doing a promotion on Saturdays, is a promotion wanted, how do you want it, how should it work
-should it be regulated having enforcement people out on Saturdays
-not regulate, have something else, tell us
-easiest thing to do is charge for parking on Saturdays but honour that receipt for an extra 2 hours give people an extended stay
-can use a coupon system for 2 hours of free parking
-trying to encourage a behviour of "come back" come back in the evenings, on weekends when traffic is lower
-may consider doing something in the evenings
-evenings and weekends are really busy, maybe need to do something to manage the streets after hours and weekends now
-merchants around MTS complaining that even if they stay open in the evenings to take advantage of crowds at MTS Centre there is nowhere to park
-one thing Downtown Biz is thinking about is the time on the meters and if it's appropriate
Questions and issues were raised regarding broken meters. One person commenting that "at one time the regulations didn't allow for people to park at a broken meter", this person also went on to indicate that in winter the meter (paystation) would be completly frozen and people had to put notes on their vehicles to indicate a broken meter. The question of "why is that the parking persons responsibility to make sure a meter they are trying to use works?" "Why can't they stay there?"
Hill's response:
-have trouble with vandals
-when a meter is malfunction, it reports back to Parking Authority in real time
-if we have a malfunction we know that, we manage ourselves accordingly
-get repair out really fast
-had some issues with them (paystations) first couple of years with cold temperatures.
-not related to cold temperature, related to humidity in big temperature swings
-printer mechanism in system, thermal printer needs certain amount of heat to generate a ticket in the morning
A question was by one person saying she had heard the new credit card with chips don't work in the machines. This person raised the issue that with the new cards, would the machine be able to read the cards?
Hill's response:
-they do read the chip, there is a chip reader built into the mechanism
-because it's a low value transaction the chip doesn't kick in
I revisted the original question regarding broken meters, asking the question if the Parking Authority is ticketing at broken meters.
Hill's response:
-if there is a meter that goes down for whatever reason it is broadcast to the enforcement staff and we take action accordingly
I repeated the question asking "so are you saying you do ticket or you don't". Dave Hill replied with "we take appropriate action".
The question of why some busy areas in the city don't have meters but downtown does citing Corydon as an example. This lady went on to say that Corydon was "hugely busy, yet they have free parking all the time, why?"
Hill's response:
-doing secondary plans for those areas, it's only because this area have traditionally had them
-parking meters are typically used as a tool to generate turnover of vehicles on the street
-if area becomes busy first thing to do is set up a 2 hour zone, but is difficult to enforce
-have to be there every two hours, with a person and a car, take action against the people there to long, time consuming, resource intensive
-more technology to deal with it
-100's of miles of 2 hour and one hour zones, never been able to get to all of them
-with new technology able to get to most of them now
Dave Hill went on to say "it gets so busy that it's not working". Hill further responded saying that:
-businesses complain that there is not enough turnover
-the only thing to do is charge a fee, put up parking meters
-where they have those complaints and asked to look after the problem, that's the next solution in the string of solutions to too much traffic
-in certain areas of the city, just about there
Dave Hill did go on to say that businesses and residential groups who are in the very busy areas are "understanding they have a problem but not going there yet".
Dave Hill went on to say that what they try to do is "wait until there is a secondary plan which is a zoning thing. One's a neighbourhood plan to try to identify what the parking opportunities are."
Hill went on to say that areas such as Corydon and Academy are starting to get "tense". Hill did indicate the next solution for those areas could be paystations. Selkirk Ave. was pointed out that paystations had been placed at the request of the Biz. Dave Hill said "they think they (meters) work great". According to the Biz. Dave Hill did admit that some areas are "getting pretty close to the point where there are no other options."
Dave Hill did say:
"Last year we tried to be a bit proactive, found that some of the neighbours objected to those things, so now we're going to the neighbourhood councillor and saying will you think about this, in some cases councillors saying ok let's give it a try. Other areas are saying no let's wait until there is some demand from the public to do it".
The issue of additional parking on the East side of Main St. around the theatres was raised by Bob Axford who said "I've been going downtown weekends for 30 years now there's less parking on the street than there was before. Are there plans for a structure in there somewhere?"
Hill's response:
-We're pushing
-Province owns land on James St., as part of the redevelopment of what used to be the Nygaard building
-want to put condos in there
-significant long term demand for parking spaces service the condos
-Museum, Concert Hall, Sport Manitoba want to expand and other developments
-creating more demand for parking space, streets can't cut it
-no more room for surface lots
One gentleman raised a concern about vandalism in the area north of the Concert Hall. This person did say he'd "been broken into a number of time" and that "if you park north of the Concert Hall you're taking your vehicle and you're life in your hands."
Hill's response:
-what we did a couple of years ago, metered the streets north of Pacific
-created some extra capacity on the streets
-in vandalism territory, partnered with the Biz to provide security patrols for that, vandalism is one thing to look for, grafitti, clean up
-when meters go in all that (security patrols) comes along with it
I asked the question of how is the Parking Authority involved with security?
Hill's response:
-partner with our stakeholder
-improve our on-street parking, more people park, we make more money
-it is in our interest in that area to partner with our stakeholders to provide that extra servicability cleanliness, tidiness on the street, more security
-parking hierarchy when people looking for a parking space is available and convenient
-second thing people look for is safe and secure,third thing people look for is price
-charge the rates necessary to do that
-one of the costs incurred is ensuring that the safety, security and cleanliness is there
-do that in parking garages, but also on the streets, to do that partner with the Biz organizations
-Biz organizations are also City agencies, they know the community best
A discussion arose when the issues of safety and parking around the Concert Hall was brought up by Bob Axford that parking around the Concert Hall "a structured parking system would benefit all the performing arts". Bob Axford went on to say that "people are staying away from that area, a guy who used to park at the Concert Hall, it's just too dangerous and a lot of people feel the same way".
Dave Hill did say he had been asked to do a feasibility study of putting a parking garage on the north side of James St., by the old bus barn which is owned by the Province. Hill said "there is a potential to make a deal and we were asked to look at that and see if that property receives a vote for putting a parking garage up".
Hill did say that there is "enough activity there" and that there is "tons of demand there and it's probably a pretty good winning business plan". Dave Hill did say this proposition would be included in the Parking Authorities next five year plan being called "Downtown Parking Strategy", this plan is due to be given to City Council in May.
One lady brought up the issue of whether or not there will be enough space in this new structure, she wondered if it would be big enough for the demand.
Hill's response:
-if 450 stalls are added would do it
-would buy a little bit of time in the longer term
-this building will be architecturally similar to that area, fit in that area, have some other use on the ground floor such as retail or commercial
-will have wider sidewalks for an active street front
-working with Centre Venture and hoping to merge this with other developments and some possibilities for the pump house, potentially a Farmers Market
Question is raised as to whether or not 450 stalls is enough. One comment made was "it's better than we've got right now". Comments are being made that the demand is there now and "it's just a nightmare" and that "it's not gonna get better, it's getting worse".
The next question deals with last years Fringe Festival and that repairs to a sewer line were done when the Fringe Festival was due to begin taking away half of the parking for the area. The question was raised as to who would be the person to contact regarding these issues. Dave Hill answered that the person to talk to would be Brad Sacher who is the Director of Public Works.
I raised the question of Hill did say that the structure could go up another floor adding another 100 stalls but that would be more expensive. whether or not the Parking Authority would support paid overnight and Sunday parking in residential areas. Asking "does the Parking Authority support paid overnight residential areas or on Sundays"?
Hill's response:
-doesn't think there is any paid overnight parking in the City
I asked again, "Does the Parking Authority support paid overnight parking or paid parking on Sundays? Metered parking?"
Hill's response:
-if there was a need and asked to do it, but doesn't think there is currently a need
-there are residential permits with the one and two hour signs that exempts residents in that particular area from the time limit
-part of purpose of time limit zones where residential areas are combined with a small business district like on Corydon residents object to traffic on streets
-can apply for restriction, 70% of block approval is needed
-residential permits will allow the vehicle to park all day, all night, exempts from time
-cost is $25.00/year
Dave Hill further went on to say "I've been all throughout the back lanes in this city and there is ample parking, absolutely almost everywhere".
One person noted that there wasn't alot of residential in the Exchange District. Dave Hill indicated there was a limited residential program for the Waterfront Drive Condos, saying "I think there's probably ten permits out there, it's very limited and not in high demand". Hill went on to say that "probably as the downtown advances and gains more of a residential footing, we'll divide that up and we'll create specific areas for those folks to park in, typically they park overnight with them, typically".
When asked again if the city supports or has paid overnight parking in residential areas such as Pacific.
Hill's response:
-depends on how you define those things
-residential permits are available for a fee would allow parking
-if there was a demand for it from the neighbourhood, could be done
-where regulations exists it's because the residents want it, or by petition or if there is more demand for parking than there is supply, regulation then required
- some areas of the city where there are business districts or hospitals, where there is an intrusion into the residential areas of traffic that is related to that facility for example Health Science Centre. The residents can buy permits for the programs.
-where there are meters those with residential permits park for free
Next question by Bob Axford "Does the Parking Authority have a formal complaints policy?"
Hill's response:
-yeah it's me
-generally if there is a complaint it either comes to Dave Hill through a Councillors office, Mayors office or from an individual
-if it's a complaint about a rule or a clarification, Dave Hill answers it
-if complaint about one of the enforcement staff, they are contracted, there is a manager to looks after that, he would investigate that, would take it up with the employer of the enforcement officer, deal with it that way.
Question, "is the parking authority going to have an open house, take questions from the public?".
Hill's response:
-have had them in the past
-had them for the first three years on Portage, no one showed up
-city service open Monday to Friday 8:00-6:00, open on Saturdays for six hours
-have email, phone access
-people write letters
-most inquiries are (with the odd complaint about an individual who is working with us, not to many), complaints about snow routes (public works issue)
-now get complaints about things that involve cars, not necessarily parking
-such as car alarms, extension cords being run out to vehicles on the street (block heaters)
-the parking authority cannot enforce the by-laws that are covered by those violations
-have to contact another department
-the parking authority is willing to write these offenses and have made suggestions that they could do those things for other departments. Made suggestions at the beginning of the year
-complaints of parking tickets, but now that pictures are being taken, better to show what was seen
-allows parking authority to do some quality control on errors made on a ticket
-if error was made on the ticket, tickets written under provincial court auspices, can go to provincial court requesting a stay based on an error made by the officer or by an error written on the ticket (such as a missing sign)
-missing signs are reported to public works.
A question of flexibility and parking was raised, the person indicating that with the matinee's which happen at some of the theatre, people can't find anywhere to park and parking is not allowed for longer than two hours. This person went on to say that the "lots were full with daytime parkers". This person was wondering if with the computer capabilities if would be possible to extend the time for parking when matinee's are playing as opposed to being restricted to two hours.
Hill's response:
-would like to lengthen the time, but to lengthen the time and still get the turnover, still have to change the rate.
This person goes on to clarify that when speaking about matinee's, lengthening the time doesn't have to be done daily.
Hill's response:
-it's possible to establish a rate structure that does that, in that specialized are of the city can be done
-what was done at HSC demonstration project last year
-HSC had paid parking all around it, HSC has outgrown that, so expanded paid parking out a couple of blocks, increased length of time to four hours
Comment made that "the only thing that is not clear is that it is more expensive unless you really read your ticket".
Hill response continued:
-it says it on the front of the machine
-the results are you try to get to a point of "parking harmony" which is where there are enough fee and time restriction which allows people enough time to park and still have 15% availability of parking on every curb face.
-goal is to establish two free spaces out of ten
A comment indicated that this goal of two free spaces out of 10 was not working in the East Exchange as people had to keep driving around to find a place to park. The lady with the question about parking and flexibility further went on to say "when you have matinee's on you need more street parking for a longer period".
Dave Hill said "I'm thinking four hours but we gotta charge more, generates the turnover".
This lady did indicate that the four hours were not needed everyday, the matinee's are scheduled months in advance. She wanted to know if it was possible with the computers that on those days the machines be programmed for the four hours. Dave Hill replied that "it becomes more a little complex for most normal people to understand".
This lady went on to say that most of the people who would take advantage of those matinee's are season ticket holders, saying "that's part of their season ticket package telling them that your parking issues can be dealt with this way".
Hill's response:
-if we had a facility
A point was made about how many spaces would be taken by daily parkers. It was stated that there was a huge demand for parking, citing Sport Manitoba's huge demand for employee parking.
The next question was for on-street parking. The parking authority have working with the Active Transportation people, I asked the quesiton "are you going to take on-street parking spots and turn them over to bicycle parking and will it be paid parking for the bicycles?"
Hill's response:
-pretty impractical to charge bikes for paid parking, people are hooking up to trees and racks now
-in the garage facilities there are bike corrals a secure environment
-with the new machines the parking authority is now able to measure the activity on individual street fronts
-have a good idea of where the high demand areas are and aren't
-volume of cars parked increases in the winter, decreases in the summer
-the thinking now if reduced demand for curb side parking in the summer, can pick some strategic areas around the city that are convenient to bike paths, find some way to put some free bike racks in to accomodate the bike riders that are using the riders using the bike paths
-Hill thinks that demand drops down enough in summer that 10 or 20 spaces in downtown can be used, won't hurt anything
-has to be a portable system put it in spring, take it out in fall
-has been asked to look into it, have a prototype at the moment
I asked if there were plans for actual on-street parking spots where bikes will be parked
Hill's respone:
-might plunk down a bike rack
-will be on street
-Hill's suggestion is to work with Active Transportation to find some spots to put some temporary platforms with some bike racks, similar to what is seen in Europe
-wouldn't stick to the busiest areas of the Exchange District.
Bob Axford asked a question regarding the first five year report for the organization, asking the question of "what is the mechanism for renewal? Does the Council have to vote for the second five year, does it have to approve the process for the first five years to continue on or what is this mechanism?"
Hill's response:
-Council set up the parking authority in 2005 as an agency of the City
-has an operating charter established at that time, intended to be a permanent organization
-laid out what the first five years would look like, does an annual budget but wanted Council to see what they could expect in five years
-just trying to do that again
Axford asks "what is the purpose of the five year report if there is not accountability for some specific performance and will that report be in any manner public?"
Hill's response:
-everything before council is public
-approved in 2004
-financial accountability for budget that is addressed every year by council
Bob Axford continue on asking "no specific mechanism to say we are going another five with these boys, just keep on going?"
Hill's response:
-public talks to councillors
-not in a vacuum, is at city hall half the day
-expertise is on and off street parking
-expertise is also enforcement at some level
-trying to do is run a safe secure on and off street parking facility for people
-run enforcement in such a way that it's very fair, manageable and transparent
Box Axford states that he is interested in accountability. Axford wonders "the other area of accountability I'm sort of wondering about is contracts for those various pieces of machinery that are on the street and the contracts for the various pieces of machinery the enforcement officers use. Are those contracts public?" Dave Hill does indicate the contracts are public.
Axford asks "where are they?" Dave Hill answers "they are purchased through the material management division of the City". Axford asks "are they tendered?"
Hill's response:
-yes they are tendered
-unless there is a sole source that is determined for a unique reason, could be a specialized function or a particular element of our environment that determines a certain used as opposed to another
-case of hand held computers, number of companies considered, the selection made on best value, lowest price, lowest long term price, decision was made in 2004
-in the case of the on-street equipment, some experiments made, weather testing suggested these (current) would operate the best given our winters
Axford asks about the hand held are a single source? Hill replies:
-enforcement program went out to public tender in 2004
Axford asks about the hand held equipment saying "I thought you just finished saying that it was specifically requested that you had a specific product you were after".
Hill replies:
-same policy that governs the rest of the city
-if there is a specific product that does some specific thing that you need to do in the city there is opportunity with authority from the city manager, the CAO or his designate through the purchasing department to create a sole source opportunity
Axford asks if "this was one of the things that had sole source?"
Hill replies:
-not the enforcement program
-not the hand held computers, not the software that went with them
Axford "what about the paystations?"
Hill:
-paystations were tendered, the requirement in tender document, had to perform at -37 at an acceptable level
-only one organization at that time who could meet that requirement
Axford: "Reason I asked those questions has to do with your past employment with some of the firms that you end up buying equipment from, I'd like to know what you've done to protect yourself from conflict of interest?"
Hill:
-recused himself from those decisions
-worked for T2 Systems briefly in 1999
-familiar with the product
-but was not involved
Axford "same thing with G4S?"
Hill: I was not involved with those decisions
I asked "how many paystations does the city actually own? Or are they all leased?"
Hill's response:
-deal with supplier, get them at no payment for the first year, then pay for them another successive three years
-at the moment approximately 630 paystations, around 4000 metered stall areas
I asked "so how do you justify the large investment in the equipment that isn't being returned?"
Hill's response:
-it's being returned, meter revenues $4 million dollars
I asked "when there are zero cars parking on Waterfront by Higgens and there is a paystation there that will never see any return, how do you justify that cost?"
Hill's response:
-it's a pilot, put it out there, see what's happening in that area
-lots of activity going on in that part of the city now, more activity on those street corners, make more capacity for that 15% availablity of parking
-if at a point with some of these if there is no activity in the area, they (paystations) are moved
I asked on Waterfront, south side of York at Waterfront. Dave Hill answers that it belongs to the Forks. Approximately two years ago it was sorted out as to who owned the property.
Bob Axford speaks of the pilot projects put in place in some of the residential neighbourhoods and that there have been complaints particularly about the lack of consultation in those neighbourhoods. Axford points out that Hill had talked about acting on the neighbourhood desire.
Hill's response:
-when parking authority set up, had years or problems to deal with
-last couple of years has been some suggestion back to the parking authority that some things should be done in different ways based on experience before
I asked about consultation specifically residential streets, where people found about the paystations on their streets when the machines went in, why was there no consultation in many areas?
Hill's response:
-what rule changed for residents?
-paystation generates turnover in traffic
I stated that these were purely residential streets, nobody had told the residents about the paystations. Where was the consultation with the residents saying you're going to get a paystation?
Hill's response:
-went out the year before talked to a lot of people, not everybody became aware of it (Hill guesses)
Question of where these areas are located I answered Assiniboine, HSC, Pacific
Hill's response:
-in the case of Assiniboine, went door to door and had support of the councillor there
(Kim) - actual door to door or did you go knocking on the supers door, handing out the letters in everybody's mailbox
(Hill) -"little of both we talked to everyone"
(Kim) -I spoke to alot of the residents and they said they knew nothing up to and including alot of the businesses
(Hill) -(Hill did an aside to the other members in the room saying "this isn't an exchange issue)
-in that scenario what actually changes for the residents, except their parking improves? What changes
I said, "what they wanted was consultation?" "How about some of the residents, Pacific, Alexander they didn't know this was happening" Businesses up on Logan didn't know about the paystations.
Hill's response:
-"public works dug up my front yard this morning, I didn't know it was happening".
-things happen in the public right of way, it's public property
-is governed by council, by the whole process
-if people have specific complains, they are not shy about calling or letting the parking authority know the complaints
-what found from Assiniboine, is going to be turned into a bicycle way, limited parking
-with pressure thats on parking south of Broadway, there is a need to create a greater turnover of traffic
-had a number of consultations with that
-nothing changes for residents except for parking meters, transient traffic moves on farther away, it thins out
-for residents overall situation improves, residents aren't paying at the meters it's the people who aren't really supposed to be there in the first place.
A zoning question arose asking if any new developments required parking spaces to be provided. Dave Hill answered saying that the zoning by-laws had changed and parking does not have to be added, residential or commercial. Hill did say that there is no permanent parking on the streets for condo owners, the street is public property.
Hill went on to say that "in the future they may have to work with the residential permit program a little bit downtown." Hill went on to say that he (Hill) had been in discussion with Councillor Browaty about this issue.
I asked a question about the meter permits, asking if permit holders were allowed to sit at a meter all day?
Hill's response:
-meter permits are for 3 hours
-police them every 3 hours, but with time restrictions hard to be there every 3 hours
-did say that typically they turnover quickly
I asked if it was a three hour permit in a two hour zone, doesn't that violate the by-laws? Dave Hill answered "no".
I asked how it didn't violate the by-laws.
Hill's response:
-it's sold for a three hour period
-it's in our budget, budget goes to council, the budget constitutes an act of council, if there is changes in the by-laws it's incorporated in the budget, changes to operating charter it's incorporated in the budget, if changes to schedule of fees and times it's in the budget
I stated the meter by-law section 5 and the traffic by-law section 26 states you can't exceed your parking time, so wouldn't the three hours exceed the two hour limit.
Hill's response:
-is it the current by-law? I replied yes
-"when we put our budget together we said here's the permit we're selling, here's the time limit on it, council approved that, has the same basis as a by-law".
I asked if the parking authority was ticketing for overtime parking at a meter. (In January at the seminar I asked the same question. Hill's reply was "that overtime parking at a meter wasn't an offense".)
Hill's response:
-"what staying at a meter longer than two hours?" (I said yes)
I further clarified by saying either paid or permits.
Hill's response:
-"from time to time we do, we try not to issue as many tickets downtown as possible".
A question was asked about what were meter permits. Dave Hill gave an explanation what kind of permits were available saying the three hour permits were $85.00. Hill did mention that the permits were "a really good deal for real estate people".
Bob Axford asked what revenue was generated for the last year and the income that is turned over to the city from this operation. Axford asks what kind of shape the parking authority is in? Dave Hill stated that all budgets submitted went to Council. Further saying that the parking authority generated more than they spent. Axford asked "how did you do last year...what was generated?" Dave Hill said "this year even with losing Winnipeg Square is $3 million". (if you listen in the background you can hear Hill say "last year I think it was five").
Bob Axford continued on "what you're saying is, you're generally going up?" Hill did say that money generated gets turned over to Council, is part of the overall city budget. Hill then said "our suggestion is leave it with us, we'll build more parking garages."
Axford asked "you appear to be going up considerably higher than the rate of inflation on how you are generating revenue".
Hill's response:
-thinks the parking authority is stable now
-had a large deficit before, push was on to generate funds to fill that gap that was being created.
Axford asked if Hill's compensation package had a performance component to it? Hill's answer is "no".
I asked if ticket counts were on the rise or decrease?
Hill's response:
-thinks the counts are stable
-with new ability with the automated process with time parking out in the "burbs", able to hit those areas more often because it's automated, bit more ticket activity but it's generally stable
-when the Commissionaires were enforcing there were 170 000 to 180 000 tickets a year, but due to changes in enforcement activities, more flexible on the street.
-the city is steady at about 150 000 tickets per year.
Dave Hill did say that they "try to do things so that people don't get parking tickets". Further saying "that they are trying to create a program that allows people to do what they need to do with as little of that activity as possible".
There was some chatter, but this is pretty much the end of the session. I did ask Jarret from the Exchange District Biz about being part of the City. The Exchange Biz along with the Downtown Biz were agencies of the City, does that mean that they are actually affiliated with the City. Jarret said that they are an "arms length agency of the City".
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