Montreal should gradually make all parking spaces on the side of the street chargeable by 2035 and hand over part of the funds to finance sustainable mobility, judges the Regional Council for the Environment of Montreal.
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Nearly 450,000 on-street parking spaces that are offered free of charge or charged with the sticker system could thus become chargeable.
“We think that the City should stop this encouragement to the car to favor other public services that need resources,” explains Blaise Rémillard, head of mobility and urban planning at the Regional Council for the Environment (CRE) in Montreal.
This is one of the 23 measures proposed by this organization in its “white paper” on parking.
According to Mr. Rémillard, this is a climate issue, but also a road safety issue. The money collected with the establishment of a fare should be used in particular to better fund public transit.
“By pricing parking better, there will be better mobility options. So the use of the car, which for some is an obligation, will become less and less so, ”he mentions.
Mr. Rémillard suggests gradually increasing the price of these places until 2035, and spreading it out over time depending on the neighbourhood.
“It is obvious that if you live next to efficient public transport services or neighborhoods that are more favored, you can spread this increase over less time, then in other sectors, you will wait until there is an improvement in services”, he specifies.
He also wants monetary compensation to be offered for low-income households who have no other transportation options.
While the City welcomes some of the ideas proposed, the head of mobility on the executive committee assures us that the pricing for all parking lots is not for tomorrow.
“For us, parking pricing is a lever to encourage mobility and sustainable urban planning,” says Sophie Mauzerolle. “There is no short-term intention for the City to price all parking spaces.”
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, AUDREY SANIKOPOULOS
A waiting list for thumbnails
In several boroughs, parking stickers are distributed without taking into account the number of limited places in a sector, deplores the CRE.
The City should therefore consider establishing a maximum threshold of vignettes to be distributed in saturated neighborhoods. Waiting lists could then be set up for new residents.
“If this person needs a parking offer and then we charge him more, let’s make sure there is a place for him,” says Mr. Rémillard.
Too much space occupied
For the Council, parking monopolizes too much space and monetary resources for the municipality. Nearly 27% of the street space would be designated for parking, according to their study.
“It deprives us of traffic lanes for other modes. When you decide to use a lane for cars, there are so many possibilities for cycle paths, reserved lanes for buses and even traffic lanes to have a fluid network, ”underlines the mobility and urban planning manager at the CRE.
The same is true for institutional and commercial parking lots. “It’s a space that is in the private domain, but which is allocated to storing automobiles, and which very often is just not used at all,” argues Mr. Rémillard.
These proposals would be in line with what the City is currently deploying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.