In an attempt to bring into line motorists who park badly on residential streets, taking up too much space or blocking private entrances, a project to mark parking spaces on the ground is underway in the Villeray district.
The pilot project, which began this week, will also help to better enforce the ban on parking five metres from intersections and in front of fire hydrants, officials said.
“For paid spaces, the road markings help motorists find their way. Our hypothesis is that it would also make it easier to comply with regulations in residential areas,” explains Laurent Chevrot, general director of the Sustainable Mobility Agency (AMD), which is leading this project in partnership with the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough.
We will also try, by analyzing the results of the project, to verify whether the identification of spaces allows more vehicles to be parked on the side of the road.
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“This is why we chose an area with a high population density, where there is pressure on street parking and permit areas,” says Mr. Chevrot.
The project concerns approximately 1,200 spaces, which are located in a quadrilateral formed by the streets Foucher, Villeray, Boyer and Leman.
Influence rather than repression
A first pilot project, concerning 150 places, was carried out last year in the Ahuntsic district, where better compliance with regulations was noted.
Laurent Chevrot argues that this project allows us to test, for a minimal cost (around $2000), the theory of nudge (literally “nudge”).
“According to this theory, small interventions can have the effect of directing citizens’ behavior in a certain direction. We are not in repression, but rather in influence,” he notes.
Residents of the affected streets received a notice in recent days to inform them of the implementation of the project, which could be extended to other areas if it is deemed effective.