The City of Victoria’s plan to fully automate its parkades is moving quickly.
The switch to a pay-by-space system, a pilot project that streamlined use of the Johnson Street parkade after being installed last fall, will be extended first to the Centennial Square parking facility as of May 10.
The Broughton and View street parkades are scheduled to follow suit this summer, with Bastion Square the last to be converted in late summer or fall.
Pay stations similar to those used for on-street parking will be in use next Monday at the Centennial Square parkade and spaces have been numbered. Drivers can also use the city’s ParkVictoria app in pay-by-space parkades. The app allows the refunding of unused time and can be topped up remotely, as well as sending an alert when time is due to expire.
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Short-term spaces designated as first hour free will be available near the parkade entrances. Otherwise, parking rates at all pay-by-space parkades will be $2 per hour, making them more cost-efficient than street parking downtown.
A change affecting all five city parkades is adding an extra hour free in the mornings, making them free between 6 and 9 a.m. daily. They remain free on Sundays and holidays.
At Thursday’s council meeting (May 6), Coun. Stephen Andrew made a motion recommending that all new and existing users of the ParkVictoria app be given a $5 credit on their account when they use it to pay during the month of May. With parking numbers still well below pre-pandemic times, he reasoned, local businesses need all the help they can get to bring people back downtown.
The motion was defeated, with only Andrew and Couns. Marianne Alto and Geoff Young in favour.
For more information on the parkade payment changes and where to get the free ParkVictoria app visit victoria.ca/parkades.
don.descoteau@blackpress.ca
