Downtown Xmas Parking
ETC approved a request from Mainstreet London and the London Downtown Business Association) for two hours of free daytime parking in the core during the month of December. Council approved the same request last year.
Councillor Orser wondered if it might be better to provide even more than what was asked for, but Mr. Usher commented “There rarely is a problem with parking after six o’clock at night” and “We’d just like to get a level playing field with all of our competitors out in the blurbs.”
Shane Maguire (Division Manager – Parking and Traffic Signals) estimated that the city would likely lose about $20,000 in revenue from the meters. That’s a great deal less than what they usually gobble up, but Mr. Maguire admitted “We know people put money in the meters even though it’s free.”
I guess that means that even though Council may agree to the free parking, they have no intention of putting notices on the meters.
© Fowler Media
Downtown parking is such a joke. It’s amazing they haven’t all rallied together to get rid of the meters.
John: The $20,000 that was quoted is the est. loss in revenue taking into account the fact that most people will continue to feed the meters because they don’t know any better. If I heard him correctly, the monthly take from the downtown meters at this time of year is about $100,000. Assuming that’s correct, do you think that the city would be receptive to the lobbying effort that you’re suggesting, no matter how well organized it was?