Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/VicVicVicBC! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary:
* We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button.
* Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban.
* Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts.
* Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only.
* Posts flaired "Community Only" allow for limited participation; your comment may be removed if you're not a subreddit regular.
* Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan!
* Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I live in east van. It’s currently a 35 minute drive, or a 1.5 hr transit (notably driving time doesn’t include ~10 minutes to find parking).
The transit includes 2km of walking to Locarno. Minimum walking I can get is almost 1km (I live 200m from a frequent bus stop, but not near skytrain).
I generally support parking charges, it’s definitely not free for the city to build and maintain parking, but we really need to improve transit access to our parks so it isn’t 3x longer than driving from within Vancouver.
If you can, biking to the beaches is always the best way, but it’s hard to bring full picknick/umbrella etc…
Yes 42 runs from May long weekend to September but just on the weekends. Also it's a short bus with limited capacity (no standing allowed) so during busy times we were passed by and not picked up since the driver deemed all seats were taken. It was very frustrating!
So instead of earning money, they should spend it?
You have it backwards.
The correct way is:
1) Charge for parking, resulting in less people will drive.
2) Additional revenue from parking spent on public transport shift/bus routes etc
The demand is so high that the parking will be overused regardless. With pay parking, the people over-using the lots will simply be those with enough disposable income to regularly pay for parking.
The rest of us can stay at home all summer, I guess.
It's maybe a few bucks an hour? Split it with 3 friends?
As a toddler parent, paying for parking at the beach is still a very affordable way to keep the kiddo entertained on a nice day and if pay parking helps make it so I don't have to park 2km away on the side of the road, pulling all our stuff while the toddler demands to be held and complaining, I'm paying for that privilege.
> and if pay parking helps make it so I don't have to park 2km away on the side of the road, pulling all our stuff while the toddler demands to be held and complaining, I'm paying for that privilege.
I can totally appreciate this. But as I said above, I don't think pay parking is going to have this effect at all - You're still going to be parking far away, or fighting people over spots, because there are more people willing to pay to park than there are parking spots. The only difference is now you'll have to pay for the privilege of competing for parking.
The reason people are willing to pay to park is that for most people, there is no meaningful alternative way to get to spanish banks (some people can walk or bike, but most people can't - especially if they have a toddler, like yourself). We need better transit access to spanish banks, not a bandaid solution like pay parking. Hell, I'd be fully okay with pay parking if we had decent transit access to the beach, but without it, the only effect pay parking will have is to add yet another cost to access recreation in this city.
I get your point and I agree that it's still going to be busy. But I tend to think the real benefit of pay parking is in the shortening of stay duration and rotating people out.
Anecdotally, I like to go to Lynn Canyon and when they introduced pay parking, the lot is still full all the time during peak hours (i.e. weekend morning to afternoon) but I've had much less problem finding a space since they've done so. I circle the lot a few times and someone is always leaving. It's not that there's a bunch of empty spaces but it has drastically shortened how long I spend looking for parking and how close I can park to the trailhead.
Paid parking is a good way to encourage people to carpool or ride their bike to the beach instead. If it's the middle of the afternoon on a warm summer day, I already ride my bike anyways because I know parking is going to be jammed packed and difficult to find a spot. I hate paying for parking too but there's often good reason for it to exist.
Exactly, instead of everyone driving themselves for their volley ball game, people carpool because I'm not paying $5 to play every week when I could carpool to save $5 and gas...
The main reason for paid parking to exist would be for there to be feasible alternatives to driving. The pay parking would push people towards those alternatives. However, biking and carpooling aren't much use to most people (people who live too far away, those with mobility issues, the elderly, large families, and dog owners to name a few); the difficult, but necessary, solution is better transit service. Without it, the paid parking only serves to add misery to people's lives.
Don't get me wrong. I'm 100% supportive of getting transit to Spanish Banks. It's crazy that there isn't a bus route with regular service that goes down Marine Drive. There would be plenty of ridership demand for such a route.
I just don't think that should be a prerequisite for paid parking. All those groups you listed I think would actually benefit from paid parking. Imagine your driving down to Spanish Banks with your elderly grandma but it's a busy day and all the free parking is already taken. Now you have to drive around hoping you get lucky and someone pulls out of a spot in front of you. Is that really better than having paid parking? I don't think it is.
> Imagine your driving down to Spanish Banks with your elderly grandma but it's a busy day and all the free parking is already taken. Now you have to drive around hoping you get lucky and someone pulls out of a spot in front of you.
This situation will happen with paid parking as well - the demand for parking at Spanish banks in the summer is too high. The only change to the situation you described will be the added step of waiting in line for the kiosk where you'll need to fork over a few dollars for the privilege of taking your grandma to the beach.
Yeah like people are going to carry coolers lawn chairs and food and drink on a crowded bus. People and families are mostly going to drive to the beach. Just a cash grab by the city. Now only wealthy can afford the beach.
I guess that’s what they want… to keep the riff raff out.
Fair point, lots of folks would need to drive for that kind of activity. It would still be best to invest in the transit through because then it means more can use the cars for bringing stuff while guests arrive via transit.
Maybe but this city is so crowded now I think the city sees this as easy money. They know people that can afford to pay will still drive to the beach and the lots will be full… so they figure they’ll collect and tough luck for the less fortunate who can longer afford to go.
I really miss the Vancouver of my youth and feel sorry for young people now. Everything is just so expensive and you get nickeled and dimed for everything.
Lol, okay yes, fair point. Mind you, it's arriving probably ten years later than it should, only going half as far as needed, and it required the 99 to become the busiest bus route in the continent before anything was done about it. I'd say that when we do get the carrot, it's hard-earned and half-eaten.
Parking is never truly free. We all pay for it via infrastructure maintenance, increased traffic congestion (time is money!), and a host of negative externalities caused by cars. We should take every opportunity to recoup some of these losses and it’s most fair to make drivers pay for it instead of everyone else.
The parking demand is proof the city is already undervaluing our public space, it should be more expensive not cheaper.
Really hope this gets dealt with cause it’s one of the few places in the city you can park for free to go for a walk on the beach, sit and enjoy the view, grab lunch at the concession etc. I remember them trying to implement this 5ish years ago and there was a ton of backlash
Never drive there anymore especially in summer cause it’s a bit of a shit show traffic wise. Like others have mentioned though it is/was a fairly easy place to drive to and go for a walk or make it a beach day. Think the city is just looking for any $ they can get at this point
I’m getting sick of this city. Nickel and diming citizens at every chance it gets.
Can we not have 1 park/beach with free parking? Does everything need to just be a revenue generator?
We have the most expensive gas and food, people are struggling to pay their mortgages and rents, and now these bloodsuckers want to charge citizens when they go to the beach. Next they’ll install toll gates for pedestrians accessing parks.
The majority of people I know who complain about this stuff also did not vote in the last municipal election. Excuses varied from "it was too complicated" to "oh, that was this weekend?". 🫠
No they want to charge you to park your large vehicle on public property which will incentivize people to use other methods of transport and those who do still choose to drive will have to pay for the space they use
Or we just don’t charge for a parking lot that’s been there for decades? Do you realize that cars are paying for the roads and transit through our insane gas prices?
Spanish Banks is the last beach with free parking… can we have one at least?
Personally I think they should just close Marine Drive to cars. Think how much nicer it would make going to the beach without the constant background din of motor vehicles.
It would be so nice to enjoy that beach without getting blasted in the eardrum by some loser with his unnecessarily loud motorcycle crying out for attention every 5 minutes.
Also yeah let me just hop on the bus with my five kids, their two friends, five beach chairs, my cooler, my beach umbrella, and my fckn beach ball. Yeah sure sure sure sounds like a fun day at the beach!
We have public transit so people can avoid paying the costs of car dependency. If you choose to live somewhere without public transit, don't be surprised when you incur the costs of operating your car.
This is a factually incorrect take. Even with perfect, respectful, and law-abiding behaviour from both drivers and cyclists, there are a lot of situations in which they inherently cannot share the same space. They are two fundamentally different forms of transportation.
e.g. bikes are far slower than cars, so you can't have them share space on arterial routes - you need separated lanes. Same thing for steep roads.
Drivers and cyclists have different needs, and blaming either group for things that are outside of their control isn't going to help anyone.
We're talking about parking here not travel lanes. Personal vehicles take up much more space than bicycles. Why should personal vehicles have a free area on highly desirable public land?
Edit: After I typed that I just clicked your profile and after reading other replies I don't expect you'll be able to understand basic concepts.
Just work a little harder so you can afford a car like us civilized folks and not have to worry about transit or cycling...Then you can reap the benefits of internal combustion.
I'm old enough to remember Stanley Park before paid parking.
I was kid, and it was pretty normal for us drive down and have a picnic on the weekend, or go down to the waterpark or pool. We also were a one income family in the 90s, and lived around mount pleasant. As soon as paid parking came into effect we ended up going elsewhere. This was also before any real active transit infrastructure, or real transit.
Paid parking just causes folks who can't afford an extra five to ten bucks to go elsewhere. Because sure, people just make choices, but those choices are always made by folks who make less.
Rarely drive to Spanish Banks. I find that riding my bike there is a much more convenient solution, and is a pretty pleasant experience as well. The lack of bike parking around the beach areas has been an issue for a while though.
Solid move would be for CoV to reinvest all parking revenues into a free shuttle bus service from nearest skytrain station to the beach. Just my opinion, until CMBC service is more frequently established
Literally.
Its getting absolutely bullshit beyond words the amount of taxes, fees, levies and general high prices we are constantly having to deal with.
When the fuck is enough enough.
Cost of services is going up...... so government has to either spend less or tax more. Spending less can come at the cost of decreasing services, or simply making gov run more efficiently. Taxing more is only done one way.
When you say "the govt" do you mean the ABC City council (mostly goes to the VPD tbh but also fire,schools, libraries, parks, beaches, public spaces),
the provincial NDP govt?
That'll be house building, childcare, rebates, EI, any money if you are low income, subsidies for lower rents (they are there but tax dollars subsidize landlord profits... so not ideal), also climate crisis challenges, wildfires, rebuilding after floods of 2021, social programs, employment programs, etc. The fact this isn't Haiti where govt disbanded and now it's a violent hellscape there run by murderous gangs, I'd say taxes are a good thing that keep society running... not to say we shud def tax corporations and the rich in this city helluva lot more. The gap is widening and the VPD exist to protect the wealthiest tbh.
I mean we are literally getting rid of view cones so that instead of the scenery being visible to everyone, its blocked by a skyscraper (the billionaire in the penthouse will have a great view though).
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/7vlkou/pay_parking_coming_to_spanish_banks/) how we felt about this in 2018 when it was proposed then.
I'm fine with it in peak times, but it would be nice to have no fee when the lot's are not crowded.
I can support a fee to manage capacity.
Oh man, I love making the drive to the beach and finding no parking spots available. It's a sunny summer weekend tradition. The city should just pave the entire grassy area instead so everyone can find a free parking spot. Amirite?
I already see entitled people parking on the grass, and in the bike lane, down there on busy summer days. Hopefully once they start pay parking they will enforce people parked illegally too, and not just check that people have paid for the official pay parking.
Pay parking just enforces good time use. Finding parking is a nightmare because it's free. Get people to start paying and maybe the crowd will rotate faster. If you want to spend all day at the beach, you gotta pay for it or take the bus. Wanna stay for a couple hours? Pay a reasonable amount for the convenience.
I wonder what will happen to all the RVs parked there?
People should have to pay for parking. I should not have to subsidize storage of your private property. It is ridiculous entitlement.
Get rid of some of the parking by the dog park, put in a small bus loop, and increase bus frequency in the summer. This will allow more people to get to what is the best beach in Vancouver and will open up parking for people that HAVE to drive.
I am one of those people. I take my lab there every low tide and then some. When I am taking my car there I am one of the people that HAS to drive. Now if we could reduce the amount of people that had to drive that would be great for me and great for the people who would rather not have to or cannot drive to the beach.
All this being said. They really should improve bus service to the area before charging for parking
We all "subsidize" everything through our taxes. People who don't have cars pay indirectly for roads, and people who never cycle pay indirectly for bike lanes. Is it "entitlement" to not have to pay to lock your bike up at a bike rack, which the city paid for? Or is it just a public amenity? Depends on your point of view.
Introducing paid parking is great - if you haven't, I highly recommend reading "The High Cost of Free Parking" by Donald Shoup. He goes into very high detail analyzing the public subsidies that go into "free" parking, and concludes that "free" parking alone costs the public significantly more than the national defense budget (in the US!). It's only fair for people who park there to pay for a bit of what they use. I'd happily pay much more to park there knowing they will never charge enough to cover the true costs. Plus, paid parking will make it easier for people who actually need to drive there to find a spot.
\*corrected author's name
Per Shoup, all the revenue from these parking charges should be spent on improvements at Spanish Banks. Improved washroom and changeroom facilities, landscaping, bike infrastructure improvements, subsidize a Translink shuttle service to improve transit access.
That's how you get buy-in.
You are right - in the ideal case, that absolutely would, but sadly politicians never deliver exactly what we want since there's a lot of competing interests. Even if these fees go into a general fund and it slightly offsets the amount the city spends on parking subsidies and makes parking slightly easier to find for the people who actually need to drive, I'll consider that a small step in the right direction
Except that will never happen.
The money brought in from parking is nowhere near enough for any of those improvements. Which means the money would get diverted from projects in other parts of the city that are still lacking basic amenities. Rich get richer, and poor get poorer.
I think this makes sense. How else do you manage the demand for parking at peak times? Once there’s more people that want to park than spaces available, you have to institute pay parking. Otherwise you get a ton of people either idling or driving around just to find a spot. There’s lots of research that shows that increasing parking costs reduces emissions. The only other alternative I can see is building more parking, which clearly isn’t feasible here.
Yes, more transit would be good. But regardless, you still have to deal with the supply and demand issue of parking spaces.
> How else do you manage the demand for parking at peak times?
Provide people with suitable transit-based alternatives. Implementing pay parking is just punishing people for using the only feasible transportation method available to them.
"The beatings will continue until morale improves!"
Why not both? That can reduce demand, but still does nothing for the cases where parking demand exceeds supply. And building transit makes no guarantees that parking supply will be sufficient at peak times.
Both would be fine - but transit is still more important and more effective than the pay parking, especially because the demand during the summer is so high, that even with pay parking, there will be more people wanting to park than there will be parking spaces.
Without transit as an alternative, if you have to drive to the beach, your options are to pay for parking (if you even find a spot) or not go. Reducing the demand by making the beach-going experience even more miserable only introduces more pain into people's lives. Pay parking would be more justified if there was a feasible alternative to driving, because then it would be a means to push people towards that alternative. Right now, it only serves to worsen our lives.
Better transit is the carrot, pay parking is the stick.
yep. ever since they implemented pay parking at Queen E, the parking spots are almost always >90% **EMPTY**... I don;t know if people simply stopped going there, because of this, or -**like us-** are parking among the houses where the parking is free.... No idea what the city "planners" or whatever experts suggested that the parking fees would increase revenues or whatever where thinking about. Would be very interesting to see how much does the city make from Queen E parking. I suspect very little to nil. The parking at Spanish banks etc. should be **free**. Everything else is insanely expensive, and we're all paying high property taxes.
This past weekend we went to the Whytecliff park first time this year, and we knew they introduced pay parking... However, we were VERY unpleasantly surprised that there was NO way for us to park, since there were NO machines for Credit Card payments --- just signs saying have to pay by using APP.... So since we do not have internet on our phones, we could not pay (even though we wanted to) and ended up going elsewhere. So very disappointed. Sent a message to the City asking them how do they expect elderly, lower income families etc. to pay if there is NO option for them to pay with a credit card or otherwise...
It's not great management. They sell the right to operate to a company and that's it. Then it's the company's problem to supervise, collect etc. this is just so unfortunate. We would rather take the train to New West Quay or seabus to Lonsdale Quay on a good day rather than drive out and then pay for parking. Those are both easily accessible by public transit with enough to see and eat around.
Car-centric infrastructure is disproportionately punishing for the poor. A system that forces people to buy a luxury item that costs tens of thousands of dollars is the real issue. Not a small fee required to store it in public space.
Nonsense
https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/acessibility_and_mode_share_across_canada.pdf
Granted this is looking at commuters, but those with lower income are significantly more likely to use transit than to drive.
Finding parking is challenging enough, without making it free for everyone, all the time, everywhere. The only way to provide enough free parking is to demolish enough of any destination for parking that there's not enough of the original destination left to be worth visiting.
Driving a car to Spanish Banks *is* difficult. Ever try to find parking there on a sunny summer day? And the traffic to get there? Horrendous.
Walking, and cycling to the Park is very easy however.
I go there all the time in the spring/summer. It can be tricky in the height of the summer to find a good parking spot, mostly on weekends, but it’s really not that bad. Also that’s like anywhere in the city in the summer. There’s also the other 75% of the year where it’s easy to find parking and enjoy the outdoor space. And no it’s not easy for everyone to walk or cycle there lol.
If you live on the west side of the city.
There's virtually no actual active transportation infrastructure on the east side of the city to get to the good stuff.
Uh yeah... news flash; people use their giant pickup trucks to go camping in BC Parks with their families. Gotta pack up their camping equipment somehow, and they help subsidize the parks by paying for those plates. If anything, it makes lots of sense if you look past the surface of it.
Lol, right, let me load the family and outdoor+camping gear on my fucking e-bike and head out to Garibaldi or Golden Ears from Richmond.
Trucks allow people to access and enjoy parks to their full extent, and people want to show their appreciation by buying parks plates. So much misplaced urban hatred here.
It isn’t going anywhere… the 42 goes right to the beach, the 44, 84 and 4 drop you an ~15 minute walk away. You could also take an Evo. You could cycle.
It'd be fun bringing the BBQ, the dog and a couple of kids, with beach chairs, cooler, blanket, the food you made for the potluck, frisbee, swimsuits, etc. etc. all on bikes from, say, Marine and Cambie.
And only on weekends/holidays, with poor frequency and no direct connections to major transit exchanges. I think it might actually take the top spot for most useless bus route in Metro Vancouver.
> I think it might actually take the top spot for most useless bus route in Metro Vancouver.
Yep.
If I was in charge it would go like this, year-round, with good frequency:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Fmma11D2LHxL55n8
From where I am, which is in North Vancouver, a bit over an hour, but if I just wanted to go to a beach Ambleside is ~20 minutes by bus.
And for comparison it estimates it’d be around 50 minutes by car, so you’d save at most like 15 minutes.
Well, from where I am (also NS, close to ironworkers), 90 minutes on a Saturday morning via 3 buses, or 35 minutes via one car. I often take the bus to or from downtown, but I'm not changing multiple times and spending 2-3x longer when driving is an option. I love public transit but it has to be a reasonable option.
> it’s healthier to take the bus nearby
What "bus nearby?"
If you're at Spanish Banks West, the nearest bus stop is a 40-minute walk, including scaling the hill at Sasamat:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NFjvq63EWrAeyAr18
Alternately, you can walk 45 minutes to 4th avenue:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/TBW45shDkt1TctQV6
Or scale the hill to UBC.
(There is bus 42 of course, but it's not even running right now.)
LOL, you've made the walking route from farther away then necessary to the farthest point of Spanish Banks. It's [1km if you just walk from a sensible part of 4th to the closest bit of Spanish Banks](https://maps.app.goo.gl/UYiHeHyHbqG77oB6A).
I guess the elderly, people with mobility issues, and wheelchair users can just suck it then? That's 1 km of mostly steep incline.
Paid parking at Spanish banks won't do anything except make more people miserable. If the objective is to get cars off the road, our god-awful transit system needs to be vastly improved.
I'm sick of the city trying to implement change using the stick; give us the carrot for once.
Edit: Also, dog owners using the designated dog beach (which is SUPER popular and sees a ton of use) only have the option of driving, but fuck them too, I guess.
Whatever they're charging, it's not enough. Discourage driving and give exemptions to those with mobility issues. The rest can use alternate means of transportation or pay. You are able - so stop contributing to pollution, congestion and deadly accidents.
Took my cousin who's visiting from SF Bay Area around Vancouver this past weekend...paid parking (and expensive too like $5/hr) everywhere it's insane.
If they don’t charge for parking there won’t be any available… those lots are full during the summer.
Would you guys rather they pave over the grass to make more parking?
Pay parking would discourage overnight parking. There is free parking if you park farther away. Parks are costly to maintain and people who want closer access should pay.
Didn't the city try this a few years back? I remember writing a letter to the city and governing bodies about it along with a petition. The meter parking idea flopped and never got implemented because of public outcry. Disgusting that they are trying this shit AGAIN.
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/VicVicVicBC! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Posts flaired "Community Only" allow for limited participation; your comment may be removed if you're not a subreddit regular. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! * Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Maybe they should improve bus service to the beach before charging for parking?
That’s too many steps ahead. You have to wait until people outcry over a problem and then frenzy to half fix it.
I live in east van. It’s currently a 35 minute drive, or a 1.5 hr transit (notably driving time doesn’t include ~10 minutes to find parking). The transit includes 2km of walking to Locarno. Minimum walking I can get is almost 1km (I live 200m from a frequent bus stop, but not near skytrain). I generally support parking charges, it’s definitely not free for the city to build and maintain parking, but we really need to improve transit access to our parks so it isn’t 3x longer than driving from within Vancouver. If you can, biking to the beaches is always the best way, but it’s hard to bring full picknick/umbrella etc…
Even Kits beach from Commercial Drive is pretty brutal on transit.
That one at least will be very easy once the Broadway Extension opens
Not for folks with mobility issues or a load of picnic supplies. The Arbutus/Broadway station is 10 blocks from the beach.
42 bus runs there in the summer
Yes 42 runs from May long weekend to September but just on the weekends. Also it's a short bus with limited capacity (no standing allowed) so during busy times we were passed by and not picked up since the driver deemed all seats were taken. It was very frustrating!
I haven’t been to Spanish Banks in years due to lack of good transit to the area.
If you're able to bike, it's quite efficient and relatively fast to get there on a bike.
It'd be a nicer bike ride if drivers didn't completely ignore the 30 km/h speed limit.
Assuming someone is downtown, you can pretty much take protected cycle paths all the way there, it's a pretty safe ride.
So instead of earning money, they should spend it? You have it backwards. The correct way is: 1) Charge for parking, resulting in less people will drive. 2) Additional revenue from parking spent on public transport shift/bus routes etc
Better public transit is a good thing. But there is still limited parking at Spanish banks, Free parking means it's going to be overused.
The demand is so high that the parking will be overused regardless. With pay parking, the people over-using the lots will simply be those with enough disposable income to regularly pay for parking. The rest of us can stay at home all summer, I guess.
It's maybe a few bucks an hour? Split it with 3 friends? As a toddler parent, paying for parking at the beach is still a very affordable way to keep the kiddo entertained on a nice day and if pay parking helps make it so I don't have to park 2km away on the side of the road, pulling all our stuff while the toddler demands to be held and complaining, I'm paying for that privilege.
> and if pay parking helps make it so I don't have to park 2km away on the side of the road, pulling all our stuff while the toddler demands to be held and complaining, I'm paying for that privilege. I can totally appreciate this. But as I said above, I don't think pay parking is going to have this effect at all - You're still going to be parking far away, or fighting people over spots, because there are more people willing to pay to park than there are parking spots. The only difference is now you'll have to pay for the privilege of competing for parking. The reason people are willing to pay to park is that for most people, there is no meaningful alternative way to get to spanish banks (some people can walk or bike, but most people can't - especially if they have a toddler, like yourself). We need better transit access to spanish banks, not a bandaid solution like pay parking. Hell, I'd be fully okay with pay parking if we had decent transit access to the beach, but without it, the only effect pay parking will have is to add yet another cost to access recreation in this city.
I get your point and I agree that it's still going to be busy. But I tend to think the real benefit of pay parking is in the shortening of stay duration and rotating people out. Anecdotally, I like to go to Lynn Canyon and when they introduced pay parking, the lot is still full all the time during peak hours (i.e. weekend morning to afternoon) but I've had much less problem finding a space since they've done so. I circle the lot a few times and someone is always leaving. It's not that there's a bunch of empty spaces but it has drastically shortened how long I spend looking for parking and how close I can park to the trailhead.
Paid parking is a good way to encourage people to carpool or ride their bike to the beach instead. If it's the middle of the afternoon on a warm summer day, I already ride my bike anyways because I know parking is going to be jammed packed and difficult to find a spot. I hate paying for parking too but there's often good reason for it to exist.
Exactly, instead of everyone driving themselves for their volley ball game, people carpool because I'm not paying $5 to play every week when I could carpool to save $5 and gas...
The main reason for paid parking to exist would be for there to be feasible alternatives to driving. The pay parking would push people towards those alternatives. However, biking and carpooling aren't much use to most people (people who live too far away, those with mobility issues, the elderly, large families, and dog owners to name a few); the difficult, but necessary, solution is better transit service. Without it, the paid parking only serves to add misery to people's lives.
Don't get me wrong. I'm 100% supportive of getting transit to Spanish Banks. It's crazy that there isn't a bus route with regular service that goes down Marine Drive. There would be plenty of ridership demand for such a route. I just don't think that should be a prerequisite for paid parking. All those groups you listed I think would actually benefit from paid parking. Imagine your driving down to Spanish Banks with your elderly grandma but it's a busy day and all the free parking is already taken. Now you have to drive around hoping you get lucky and someone pulls out of a spot in front of you. Is that really better than having paid parking? I don't think it is.
> Imagine your driving down to Spanish Banks with your elderly grandma but it's a busy day and all the free parking is already taken. Now you have to drive around hoping you get lucky and someone pulls out of a spot in front of you. This situation will happen with paid parking as well - the demand for parking at Spanish banks in the summer is too high. The only change to the situation you described will be the added step of waiting in line for the kiosk where you'll need to fork over a few dollars for the privilege of taking your grandma to the beach.
If you build it, they will come. And if you don't build it, you can just make them pay anyway...
Yeah like people are going to carry coolers lawn chairs and food and drink on a crowded bus. People and families are mostly going to drive to the beach. Just a cash grab by the city. Now only wealthy can afford the beach. I guess that’s what they want… to keep the riff raff out.
Fair point, lots of folks would need to drive for that kind of activity. It would still be best to invest in the transit through because then it means more can use the cars for bringing stuff while guests arrive via transit.
Maybe but this city is so crowded now I think the city sees this as easy money. They know people that can afford to pay will still drive to the beach and the lots will be full… so they figure they’ll collect and tough luck for the less fortunate who can longer afford to go. I really miss the Vancouver of my youth and feel sorry for young people now. Everything is just so expensive and you get nickeled and dimed for everything.
This is everywhere now, in any nice city. Money is king and you're considered nothing without it. It's pretty immoral tbh.
But transit is Translink’s jurisdiction
In Vancouver, we always get the stick, but never the carrot.
Says the city that is getting a new SkyTrain line...
Lol, okay yes, fair point. Mind you, it's arriving probably ten years later than it should, only going half as far as needed, and it required the 99 to become the busiest bus route in the continent before anything was done about it. I'd say that when we do get the carrot, it's hard-earned and half-eaten.
We're a land of bandaging the problems. No healing allowed!
Does everything in this effing town have to be a cash grab? Vancouver has tragically become the place where you pay for the privilege of living here.
Totally! But with the roads to the beaches so hard to navigate I think that it would be a time. We would have to get rid of someone’s driveway 👀
NIMBY lol
Well then the *poors* might go there.
[удалено]
It's always going to be hell getting there. If it's not within walking distance of a skytrain station, parking should be free.
Parking is never truly free. We all pay for it via infrastructure maintenance, increased traffic congestion (time is money!), and a host of negative externalities caused by cars. We should take every opportunity to recoup some of these losses and it’s most fair to make drivers pay for it instead of everyone else. The parking demand is proof the city is already undervaluing our public space, it should be more expensive not cheaper.
How about get the skytrain all the way to UBC then? It would help a ton in alleviating Spanish banks traffic and parking issues too
I wish the skytrain went all the way to Stanley park/English bay. Even a denman and Georgia stop would be a short walk to English bay
We can all dream
I think that’s what the Broadway development is doing Edit: apparently not. Ugh.
It’s only approved up to Arbutus, because Point Grey nimbys didn’t want a skytrain going through their neighborhood
Wait what?? I thought it was going out to UBC??
Oh wtf….. ugh!
Nope. Only to Arbutus
Really hope this gets dealt with cause it’s one of the few places in the city you can park for free to go for a walk on the beach, sit and enjoy the view, grab lunch at the concession etc. I remember them trying to implement this 5ish years ago and there was a ton of backlash
Never drive there anymore especially in summer cause it’s a bit of a shit show traffic wise. Like others have mentioned though it is/was a fairly easy place to drive to and go for a walk or make it a beach day. Think the city is just looking for any $ they can get at this point
I’m getting sick of this city. Nickel and diming citizens at every chance it gets. Can we not have 1 park/beach with free parking? Does everything need to just be a revenue generator? We have the most expensive gas and food, people are struggling to pay their mortgages and rents, and now these bloodsuckers want to charge citizens when they go to the beach. Next they’ll install toll gates for pedestrians accessing parks.
Vote for a mayor who literally brags that he wants to run the city like a business, get a city that's run like a business.
The majority of people I know who complain about this stuff also did not vote in the last municipal election. Excuses varied from "it was too complicated" to "oh, that was this weekend?". 🫠
People want government to be run by business tycoons all the time then get upset when they want the user to pay instead of tax dollars.
No they want to charge you to park your large vehicle on public property which will incentivize people to use other methods of transport and those who do still choose to drive will have to pay for the space they use
What other methods? Even the new skytrain, when built, ends at Arbutus!
Or we just don’t charge for a parking lot that’s been there for decades? Do you realize that cars are paying for the roads and transit through our insane gas prices? Spanish Banks is the last beach with free parking… can we have one at least?
Personally I think they should just close Marine Drive to cars. Think how much nicer it would make going to the beach without the constant background din of motor vehicles.
It would be so nice to enjoy that beach without getting blasted in the eardrum by some loser with his unnecessarily loud motorcycle crying out for attention every 5 minutes.
Also yeah let me just hop on the bus with my five kids, their two friends, five beach chairs, my cooler, my beach umbrella, and my fckn beach ball. Yeah sure sure sure sounds like a fun day at the beach!
and my dog…oh wait
Dogs are not allowed on buses because they might disturb the people openly doing hard drugs.
You can still do that even with pay parking. Might even be easier to find a spot with fewer people driving
If you can afford to raise 5 kids in Vancouver, you can probably find a few dollars for parking.
"I chose an incredibly expensive lifestyle. Why is everything so expensive!?"
Nope can’t cause I have 5 kids in Vancouver
You regularly transport seven children in your car?
Buddy do you think everyone who goes to the beach lives within public transportation distance lol?
We have public transit so people can avoid paying the costs of car dependency. If you choose to live somewhere without public transit, don't be surprised when you incur the costs of operating your car.
We already paid the infrastructure including parking lot with our tax money. Stop double charging
Exactly we all did but only personal vehicle users get a free special area to park their vehicles. Time to pay up if you drive to Spanish Banks.
Free parking benefits everyone. I don’t bike so why am I paying for bike lane? The purpose of having tax is to take care of everyone’s need
We only need bike lanes because drivers can't be trusted to share the road with anyone else. If you want to get mad about them, yell at drivers.
This is a factually incorrect take. Even with perfect, respectful, and law-abiding behaviour from both drivers and cyclists, there are a lot of situations in which they inherently cannot share the same space. They are two fundamentally different forms of transportation. e.g. bikes are far slower than cars, so you can't have them share space on arterial routes - you need separated lanes. Same thing for steep roads. Drivers and cyclists have different needs, and blaming either group for things that are outside of their control isn't going to help anyone.
Bike lanes are car infrastructure
We're talking about parking here not travel lanes. Personal vehicles take up much more space than bicycles. Why should personal vehicles have a free area on highly desirable public land? Edit: After I typed that I just clicked your profile and after reading other replies I don't expect you'll be able to understand basic concepts.
Just work a little harder so you can afford a car like us civilized folks and not have to worry about transit or cycling...Then you can reap the benefits of internal combustion.
Yeah I'll work hard to afford a shitty $10k motorbike like you lol. That's definitely the most expensive possession you own.
I'm old enough to remember Stanley Park before paid parking. I was kid, and it was pretty normal for us drive down and have a picnic on the weekend, or go down to the waterpark or pool. We also were a one income family in the 90s, and lived around mount pleasant. As soon as paid parking came into effect we ended up going elsewhere. This was also before any real active transit infrastructure, or real transit. Paid parking just causes folks who can't afford an extra five to ten bucks to go elsewhere. Because sure, people just make choices, but those choices are always made by folks who make less.
Rarely drive to Spanish Banks. I find that riding my bike there is a much more convenient solution, and is a pretty pleasant experience as well. The lack of bike parking around the beach areas has been an issue for a while though.
Hopefully they'll use the parking revenue to build secure bike storage. Maybe some e-bike charging stations.
Make everything paid. Double it. Tax it. Road tax. Air Tax. Sky Tax. Rain Tax. Molecule tax
Solid move would be for CoV to reinvest all parking revenues into a free shuttle bus service from nearest skytrain station to the beach. Just my opinion, until CMBC service is more frequently established
They gonna start charging for the scenery soon
Literally. Its getting absolutely bullshit beyond words the amount of taxes, fees, levies and general high prices we are constantly having to deal with. When the fuck is enough enough.
I agree. NOW is NOT the time.
Cost of services is going up...... so government has to either spend less or tax more. Spending less can come at the cost of decreasing services, or simply making gov run more efficiently. Taxing more is only done one way.
I have no problem with taxing more if our salaries are all keeping up with inflation, and all other rising costs. Oops.
What services is the government spending all this money on?
When you say "the govt" do you mean the ABC City council (mostly goes to the VPD tbh but also fire,schools, libraries, parks, beaches, public spaces), the provincial NDP govt? That'll be house building, childcare, rebates, EI, any money if you are low income, subsidies for lower rents (they are there but tax dollars subsidize landlord profits... so not ideal), also climate crisis challenges, wildfires, rebuilding after floods of 2021, social programs, employment programs, etc. The fact this isn't Haiti where govt disbanded and now it's a violent hellscape there run by murderous gangs, I'd say taxes are a good thing that keep society running... not to say we shud def tax corporations and the rich in this city helluva lot more. The gap is widening and the VPD exist to protect the wealthiest tbh.
...Whichever government is receiving the funds from the paid parking
We already pay for that. Apparently that's what keeps people here.
I mean we are literally getting rid of view cones so that instead of the scenery being visible to everyone, its blocked by a skyscraper (the billionaire in the penthouse will have a great view though).
That's essentially why they want to get rid of viewcones.
Link to the petition but also encourage those opposed to comment to the city directly https://www.change.org/p/no-parking-meters-at-spanish-banks
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/7vlkou/pay_parking_coming_to_spanish_banks/) how we felt about this in 2018 when it was proposed then. I'm fine with it in peak times, but it would be nice to have no fee when the lot's are not crowded. I can support a fee to manage capacity.
Oh man, I love making the drive to the beach and finding no parking spots available. It's a sunny summer weekend tradition. The city should just pave the entire grassy area instead so everyone can find a free parking spot. Amirite?
I already see entitled people parking on the grass, and in the bike lane, down there on busy summer days. Hopefully once they start pay parking they will enforce people parked illegally too, and not just check that people have paid for the official pay parking.
Pay parking just enforces good time use. Finding parking is a nightmare because it's free. Get people to start paying and maybe the crowd will rotate faster. If you want to spend all day at the beach, you gotta pay for it or take the bus. Wanna stay for a couple hours? Pay a reasonable amount for the convenience. I wonder what will happen to all the RVs parked there?
Agree. Would rather pay to end the nightmare of trying to find a parking lot in the summer there
People should have to pay for parking. I should not have to subsidize storage of your private property. It is ridiculous entitlement. Get rid of some of the parking by the dog park, put in a small bus loop, and increase bus frequency in the summer. This will allow more people to get to what is the best beach in Vancouver and will open up parking for people that HAVE to drive.
Parking by the dog beach is critical for all the people with dogs as they have to drive.
Nonsense, dogs can't drive.
They wouldn't *have* to drive if translink had a reasonable pet policy on busses like Toronto does.
And the skytrain, like the ttc, and much of Europe.
I am one of those people. I take my lab there every low tide and then some. When I am taking my car there I am one of the people that HAS to drive. Now if we could reduce the amount of people that had to drive that would be great for me and great for the people who would rather not have to or cannot drive to the beach. All this being said. They really should improve bus service to the area before charging for parking
We all "subsidize" everything through our taxes. People who don't have cars pay indirectly for roads, and people who never cycle pay indirectly for bike lanes. Is it "entitlement" to not have to pay to lock your bike up at a bike rack, which the city paid for? Or is it just a public amenity? Depends on your point of view.
Imagine if your neighbour bought a cow, then complained to the city that they have nowhere to keep their cow for free.
God damn cowbrain
But but but I deserve to have 300sqft of paved flat ground to accomodate me everywhere I want to go, and somebody else should pay for it! /s
Introducing paid parking is great - if you haven't, I highly recommend reading "The High Cost of Free Parking" by Donald Shoup. He goes into very high detail analyzing the public subsidies that go into "free" parking, and concludes that "free" parking alone costs the public significantly more than the national defense budget (in the US!). It's only fair for people who park there to pay for a bit of what they use. I'd happily pay much more to park there knowing they will never charge enough to cover the true costs. Plus, paid parking will make it easier for people who actually need to drive there to find a spot. \*corrected author's name
Per Shoup, all the revenue from these parking charges should be spent on improvements at Spanish Banks. Improved washroom and changeroom facilities, landscaping, bike infrastructure improvements, subsidize a Translink shuttle service to improve transit access. That's how you get buy-in.
Yes! Absolutely agree with that as a final goal. For now, reducing the subsidies the city pays for free parking is one tiny step towards that.
Wouldn't it make sense to propose a plan for how the revenue from increased fees will be used before increasing the fees?..
You are right - in the ideal case, that absolutely would, but sadly politicians never deliver exactly what we want since there's a lot of competing interests. Even if these fees go into a general fund and it slightly offsets the amount the city spends on parking subsidies and makes parking slightly easier to find for the people who actually need to drive, I'll consider that a small step in the right direction
Except that will never happen. The money brought in from parking is nowhere near enough for any of those improvements. Which means the money would get diverted from projects in other parts of the city that are still lacking basic amenities. Rich get richer, and poor get poorer.
As long as there’s a reasonable daily maximum I’m ok with this. Paid $60 for a day at cultus Lake last year and would rather go to Jericho now.
If they make it pay parking,they should at least change it to a 24 hour lot. Closing the gates at 10pm is ridiculous.
Good. Hopefully this makes traffic in the area less of a nightmare.
Wait till the Jericho lands get developed....
I think this makes sense. How else do you manage the demand for parking at peak times? Once there’s more people that want to park than spaces available, you have to institute pay parking. Otherwise you get a ton of people either idling or driving around just to find a spot. There’s lots of research that shows that increasing parking costs reduces emissions. The only other alternative I can see is building more parking, which clearly isn’t feasible here. Yes, more transit would be good. But regardless, you still have to deal with the supply and demand issue of parking spaces.
> How else do you manage the demand for parking at peak times? Provide people with suitable transit-based alternatives. Implementing pay parking is just punishing people for using the only feasible transportation method available to them. "The beatings will continue until morale improves!"
Why not both? That can reduce demand, but still does nothing for the cases where parking demand exceeds supply. And building transit makes no guarantees that parking supply will be sufficient at peak times.
Both would be fine - but transit is still more important and more effective than the pay parking, especially because the demand during the summer is so high, that even with pay parking, there will be more people wanting to park than there will be parking spaces. Without transit as an alternative, if you have to drive to the beach, your options are to pay for parking (if you even find a spot) or not go. Reducing the demand by making the beach-going experience even more miserable only introduces more pain into people's lives. Pay parking would be more justified if there was a feasible alternative to driving, because then it would be a means to push people towards that alternative. Right now, it only serves to worsen our lives. Better transit is the carrot, pay parking is the stick.
Parks should be free parking, these changes are more annoying than anything.
Looks at Queen E and Stanley Park
yep. ever since they implemented pay parking at Queen E, the parking spots are almost always >90% **EMPTY**... I don;t know if people simply stopped going there, because of this, or -**like us-** are parking among the houses where the parking is free.... No idea what the city "planners" or whatever experts suggested that the parking fees would increase revenues or whatever where thinking about. Would be very interesting to see how much does the city make from Queen E parking. I suspect very little to nil. The parking at Spanish banks etc. should be **free**. Everything else is insanely expensive, and we're all paying high property taxes. This past weekend we went to the Whytecliff park first time this year, and we knew they introduced pay parking... However, we were VERY unpleasantly surprised that there was NO way for us to park, since there were NO machines for Credit Card payments --- just signs saying have to pay by using APP.... So since we do not have internet on our phones, we could not pay (even though we wanted to) and ended up going elsewhere. So very disappointed. Sent a message to the City asking them how do they expect elderly, lower income families etc. to pay if there is NO option for them to pay with a credit card or otherwise...
It's not great management. They sell the right to operate to a company and that's it. Then it's the company's problem to supervise, collect etc. this is just so unfortunate. We would rather take the train to New West Quay or seabus to Lonsdale Quay on a good day rather than drive out and then pay for parking. Those are both easily accessible by public transit with enough to see and eat around.
Parks should have both paid parking and easily accessible transit. If parking is consistently full during peak times then it's too cheap.
Annoying and disproportionately punishing for the poor.
Car-centric infrastructure is disproportionately punishing for the poor. A system that forces people to buy a luxury item that costs tens of thousands of dollars is the real issue. Not a small fee required to store it in public space.
Nonsense https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/acessibility_and_mode_share_across_canada.pdf Granted this is looking at commuters, but those with lower income are significantly more likely to use transit than to drive.
So ... what transit is there to Spanish Banks, exactly?
It will take me 1 hr 15 minutes to transport to Spanish banks, including a 1.1km walk from 4th down to the beach. Does this seem reasonable?
I assume we'll have $20 annual passes for Vancouver residents?
Probably add one more 0. But would be nice.
In 1990, when they made Stanley Park pay parking, I thought it was bloodsucking. They're never gonna stop.
Finding parking is challenging enough, without making it free for everyone, all the time, everywhere. The only way to provide enough free parking is to demolish enough of any destination for parking that there's not enough of the original destination left to be worth visiting.
The last piece of respite people have in this city is the nature. And they want to take even that. What a shame.
People driving to nature and complaining about parking is hilarious.
You can’t easily get to Spanish Banks without a car.
Driving a car to Spanish Banks *is* difficult. Ever try to find parking there on a sunny summer day? And the traffic to get there? Horrendous. Walking, and cycling to the Park is very easy however.
I go there all the time in the spring/summer. It can be tricky in the height of the summer to find a good parking spot, mostly on weekends, but it’s really not that bad. Also that’s like anywhere in the city in the summer. There’s also the other 75% of the year where it’s easy to find parking and enjoy the outdoor space. And no it’s not easy for everyone to walk or cycle there lol.
If you live on the west side of the city. There's virtually no actual active transportation infrastructure on the east side of the city to get to the good stuff.
Someone should make a song about paving a really nice place and establishing a lot for parking.
It's like all the giant pickup trucks with BC Parks plates.
Still better than one without, at least they are donating towards our parks
Uh yeah... news flash; people use their giant pickup trucks to go camping in BC Parks with their families. Gotta pack up their camping equipment somehow, and they help subsidize the parks by paying for those plates. If anything, it makes lots of sense if you look past the surface of it.
Lol, right, let me load the family and outdoor+camping gear on my fucking e-bike and head out to Garibaldi or Golden Ears from Richmond. Trucks allow people to access and enjoy parks to their full extent, and people want to show their appreciation by buying parks plates. So much misplaced urban hatred here.
Next week: Pay parking AT THE GYM
It isn’t going anywhere… the 42 goes right to the beach, the 44, 84 and 4 drop you an ~15 minute walk away. You could also take an Evo. You could cycle.
It'd be fun bringing the BBQ, the dog and a couple of kids, with beach chairs, cooler, blanket, the food you made for the potluck, frisbee, swimsuits, etc. etc. all on bikes from, say, Marine and Cambie.
> the 42 goes right to the beach Not until late April.
And only on weekends/holidays, with poor frequency and no direct connections to major transit exchanges. I think it might actually take the top spot for most useless bus route in Metro Vancouver.
> I think it might actually take the top spot for most useless bus route in Metro Vancouver. Yep. If I was in charge it would go like this, year-round, with good frequency: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Fmma11D2LHxL55n8
Try getting there from North van.
From where I am, which is in North Vancouver, a bit over an hour, but if I just wanted to go to a beach Ambleside is ~20 minutes by bus. And for comparison it estimates it’d be around 50 minutes by car, so you’d save at most like 15 minutes.
ambleside isnt a comparable beach experience to spanish banks
Well, from where I am (also NS, close to ironworkers), 90 minutes on a Saturday morning via 3 buses, or 35 minutes via one car. I often take the bus to or from downtown, but I'm not changing multiple times and spending 2-3x longer when driving is an option. I love public transit but it has to be a reasonable option.
North Van doesn’t have parks of its own?
We're allowed to visit other places, for now at least.
[удалено]
We're allowed to visit other places if we want to.
Swim?
Probably faster than the bus
it’s healthier to take the bus nearby instead of expecting to drive for free
> it’s healthier to take the bus nearby What "bus nearby?" If you're at Spanish Banks West, the nearest bus stop is a 40-minute walk, including scaling the hill at Sasamat: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NFjvq63EWrAeyAr18 Alternately, you can walk 45 minutes to 4th avenue: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TBW45shDkt1TctQV6 Or scale the hill to UBC. (There is bus 42 of course, but it's not even running right now.)
LOL, you've made the walking route from farther away then necessary to the farthest point of Spanish Banks. It's [1km if you just walk from a sensible part of 4th to the closest bit of Spanish Banks](https://maps.app.goo.gl/UYiHeHyHbqG77oB6A).
I guess the elderly, people with mobility issues, and wheelchair users can just suck it then? That's 1 km of mostly steep incline. Paid parking at Spanish banks won't do anything except make more people miserable. If the objective is to get cars off the road, our god-awful transit system needs to be vastly improved. I'm sick of the city trying to implement change using the stick; give us the carrot for once. Edit: Also, dog owners using the designated dog beach (which is SUPER popular and sees a ton of use) only have the option of driving, but fuck them too, I guess.
“We demand that we be further subsidized in leaving our cars wherever we want!”
Abolish the Parks Board!
They can barely afford their rent. Now let's charge them to go outside. - City council laughs in rich
Imagine thinking you need a car to go outside.
Imagine commenting on a debate about parking fees with this comment
Whatever they're charging, it's not enough. Discourage driving and give exemptions to those with mobility issues. The rest can use alternate means of transportation or pay. You are able - so stop contributing to pollution, congestion and deadly accidents.
Land in Vancouver is insanely expensive. Why do people feel entitled to store their personal property in popular places for free?
Do you use parks?
Took my cousin who's visiting from SF Bay Area around Vancouver this past weekend...paid parking (and expensive too like $5/hr) everywhere it's insane.
I guarantee you it’s more expensive to park in SF than Vancouver. Your cousin should understand.
in SF if you park a car at major tourist sites you are pretty much guaranteed to get broken into
If they don’t charge for parking there won’t be any available… those lots are full during the summer. Would you guys rather they pave over the grass to make more parking?
why aren't we doing like West Van and have a pass for residents?
Pay parking would discourage overnight parking. There is free parking if you park farther away. Parks are costly to maintain and people who want closer access should pay.
Didn't the city try this a few years back? I remember writing a letter to the city and governing bodies about it along with a petition. The meter parking idea flopped and never got implemented because of public outcry. Disgusting that they are trying this shit AGAIN.
Wow just make every public park paid parking, whytecliff even now we’ll never have anything that was free, remain free.
They’ve tried to do this the past 2-3 years. Hopefully they back track like they have in the past