The Low Cost of Parking Permits in Winnipeg

The Globe and Mail in their editorial has commented on the below market prices set for street parking by cities across Canada. The permits for overnight parking are so low that even car supporters ought to be embarrassed. Think that most people would agree that curbside parking near where you live is valuable. How valuable? Well, so valuable that people will get very upset about cars that park in front of their house regularly even if there are no parking restrictions at all.

Think about your own streets and how many cars are parked out front each night every night. Even when someone has two parking spaces, they sometimes end filling their garage with stuff to store and end up parking on the street instead. Along many residential streets in Winnipeg, it is an unbroken chain of cars parked overnight every night, most without permits. Even where permits are required, the cost is so low annually that it likely costs more to issue documents than what comes in. 

Winnipeg charges $50 a year for an annual parking permit. Calgary is $30 a year. In Toronto, it is $300 a year. Any of those rates seems like a deep subsidy given the value of the roads. The cost of building nearly free parking is staggering and yet every city does it. Safe to say that if all overnight parking had a fee and that it rose every year then more people might actually park in their garages or seek other parking options. 

How is that short term parking pay high prices and end up being towed when in Winnipeg you can pay $50 a park all year. What's the point of parking in your garage? It is so cheap to pay for parking on your street. It is easier to save money not using a storage locker and fill a double garage than pay market rates privately.  And don't think that doesn't happen. There are so many garages filled with stuff and cars out in the street because the cost and consequences of it are so low.

The city is so cash strapped that giving this space away for free and having it occupied all the time so that it can't be used for deliveries or customers is costly in so many ways. The last time the city looked at this was many years ago. We clearly have a cars up and down every street even when people have space to park them. This should help make people realize there is a cost for this and the city will be able to bill people for the actual cost.