The key components of the parking policy would be:
1. Phase-in over 3 years (2017-2019) elimination of on-street parking stalls and meters on major (a.k.a. “arterial”) streets in the core area of downtown – “likely an area no larger than the square between Bloor, Spadina, Jarvis and Front Street,” Soknacki said. “By major streets, we mean streets like Bloor and Front, College and University.”
2. Pursue revenue-sharing partnerships to finance and develop multi-level Green P parkades on up to eight (8) existing City-owned surface lots in the downtown core to compensate for lost stalls.
3. Consult with city public servants, area stakeholders and the public on route priorities to connect additional car lanes and/or cycling lanes on each route once cleared of parking obstructions.
“Gridlock is such a reality that lane space on key roads is more valuable to move people than it is to park cars,” Soknacki said. “New private and public off-street parking can compensate for parking demand over the course of the phase-out.”
The solution isn’t radical, and major cities like New York, Montreal and Philadelphia also have severe limits on on-street downtown parking on key thoroughfares. Soknacki also noted that Toronto itself has successfully tried this approach before. Mayor William Stewart pushed for a similar ban in during an early car congestion crisis in 1931, and the experiment did reduce gridlock downtown significantly - but that policy ended after complaints about lost downtown business.
“The difference now: we have thousands more off-street parking spots to support core businesses, many more workers arrive by subway and GO rail into downtown, and we have far greater need for the extra lanes on key streets during rush hour,” Soknacki said.
