RFP For Pay Parking Equipment Issued
Monday, March 25, 2013 @ 4:00 AM
Prince George, B.C. – The City of Prince George has taken another step towards the return of pay parking in downtown.
The parking meters were removed in January of 2009 following a rash of vandalism attacks on the coin meters. A two year pilot project was put in place during which time, the meters were removed and a two hour free time limit was put in place. The system was appreciated by some downtown merchants who said the free parking was a step in the right direction to level the playing field with the mall and big box retail outlets in the city. But there were plenty of complaints as well, as some downtown employees played a game of cat and mouse, shifting their vehicles every two hours to avoid being ticketed meaning downtown customers were not necessarily able to take advantage of the free parking.
The City has now posted a request for proposals on B.C. Bid for the supply and installation of pay parking equipment, and a license plate recognition program system. The RFP calls for successful proponents to also provide on going maintenance and support.
The City is looking for a system that can accommodate credit, debit cards and smart phone technology.
According to Manager of Bylaw Services, Guy Gusdal, the RFP will close on April 15th, with an expectation the contract would be awarded by June 10th. Installation of the equipment is expected to take place in late August or mid-September.
Gusdal and Supply and Fleet Services Manager Scott Bone, recently attended a parking trade show in Chicago. "We wouldn’t have gone, except the trade show was happening just as we were putting the final RFP together" says Gusdal. He says attending the trade show meant they were able to talk to a number of vendors and get a better handle on the types of products on the market.
When City Council approved returning to pay parking downtown, it was estimated 100 machines would be needed to outfit the off-street and on- street parking areas. The rough budget set for the purchase, installation and support for the new technology is $1.2 million dollars.
Comments
“He says attending the trade show meant they were able to talk to a number of vendors and get a better handle on the types of products on the market.”
Perhaps our City staff is unaware of an amazing thing called “Google”. All kinds of information, contacts, etc can be found by doing a simple Google search rather then a two person all expenses paid trip to Chicago.
Dont shop, stop or even double park in this god for sakin downtown,,never go there, never will,,and I was born and raised here and say the downtown in the 70’s and 80’s was awesome.It is different now,,,kind of creepy to tell you the truth. Glad I only have to drive through it to go out east.
What a joke. I’m going to purposely Avoid downtown! I worked at the RCMP building and was one of those people jumping my vehicle around. I’m not going to pay to park just so I can go to work.
They should wait untill the WIDC building is done. Then when the millions of people head down there to look the can pay to park ha ha ha
“credit, debit cards and smart phone technology” .. so does that mean they will no longer take actual money? Not everyone has those means of paying.
Just cram bubble gum into ’em or else carry around a nice block of firewood in case you accidently bump into them walking down the side walk. No way I will be going down town after this ripoff starts again. Hope every one of the machines gets hit like happened before.
Yay – now that the HST is leaving mattyc has something else to focus his neurosis on. Avoiding downtown and vandalism of civic property. Awesome.
Wonderful news. City council once again how out of touch with reality they are. Installing meters will just add another nail to the coffin of downtown. Business should improve for the pawn shops and drug dealers though.
Sadly, the city is taking a step backward, again. This seems to be a predictable behaviour for this “council”. Much as I admire the downtown merchants who are trying very hard to establish and maintain a vibrant downtown, they are being thwarted by the mayor and her cronies on a consistent basis. If I have to pay to park there, I won’t be there. I don’t have to pay anywhere else.
But: “credit, debit cards and smart phone technology” .. so does that mean they will no longer take actual money? Not everyone has those means of paying.”
Welcome to the 21st century. Many modern systems don’t deal in cash anymore.
As for pay parking, I’ve said it before, the people who work downtown have only themselves to blame for pay parking coming back.
Carpenter on March 25 2013 6:20 AM
What a joke. I’m going to purposely Avoid downtown! I worked at the RCMP building and was one of those people jumping my vehicle around. I’m not going to pay to park just so I can go to work.
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Are you serious? You expect the rest of us to pay for your parking? What an amazing sense of entitlement; you’re going to love the NDP. :)
That’s it. Only if it is totally unavoidable (accessing government services) will we go downtown now. What a colossal waste of money while some cratered and potholed streets (for instance Croft Road and Austin Road West) are unsafe and nearly impassable.
Carpenter – I bet your boss loved paying his contractor to take a break every two hours and go drive around. Drop tools, leave worksite, walk to car, drive around to find new spot, walk back to worksite, get started up again… probably turned into a half hour break every two hours eh?
Lets see we dont pay parking at the malls.
But they want us to pay to go to one or 2 stores downtown.
Next there willl be a group hired out of Vancouver to tell us how to revitailze the down town core,Concill has to go.
Name me a City equal in size to Prince George that does not have pay parking in the down town.
Posted by: doneright on March 25 2013 8:57 AM
Lets see we dont pay parking at the malls.
But they want us to pay to go to one or 2 stores downtown.
Next there willl be a group hired out of Vancouver to tell us how to revitailze the down town core,Concill has to go.
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The mall either owns the parking lot or pays the owner of the lot for it’s use. The costs are off loaded onto the merchants who in turn pass it along to you.
Nothing is free.
I can’t wait for pay parking to return; I sure as heck don’t like parking 3 or 4 blocks away because the downtown workers are hogging all the choice spots.
I also will not use downtown as much when the one-armed bandits are put in. However there is a silver lining in that folks can park outside the core for free and those of us who can and are able will be more fit by walking to do our business. Think of it as “participaction”. Your body will love it. Only snag- the sidewalks will need cleaning. OH THATS’ ANOTHER STORY.
It’s true – what town does NOT have pay parking? Just please tell us how this is better for downtown? If you run on a platform to bring back downtown – Please tell us how this is betterfying downtown? Does the $ collected stay downtown?
Google????
Everyone knows that companies spend money on web sites just for the fun of it. They really do not intend to get any calls as a result … ;-)
The sense of entitlement expressed by many of the posters in this thread is downright scary, but probably not unexpected.
Posted by: tburbee on March 25 2013 9:37 AM
It’s true – what town does NOT have pay
parking? Just please tell us how this is better for downtown? If you run on a platform to bring back downtown – Please tell us how this is betterfying downtown? Does the $ collected stay downtown?
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It opens up an awful lot of parking spots for people who want to shop downtown as opposed to the current system which is being used as free parking for people that work downtown. I won’t go the the Northen if I have to park 2 blocks away. Heck, have you ever gone to the CIBC downtown around 8:00 in the morning? That block is full and you can’t tell me that they’re down there shopping.
“When City Council approved returning to pay parking downtown, it was estimated 100 machines would be needed to outfit the off-street and on- street parking areas”
Are those actual meters or are they pay stations?
Lethbridge, for instance, has close to 2,000 parking meters.
Let’s face it, most cities that have problem downtowns cycle between paid parking and free parking, one way streets and two way streets, parallel parking and angled parking, street lights, concrete and paver sidewalks, canopies and no canopies ……
I just look at it in the same fashion as re-arranging the furniture in the living room every now and then because you think that there will be more space.
The fact is, the living room does not change, nor does the downtown. ;-)
Of course, moving furniture around in the living room is unpaid volunteer labour.
Not being able to make up one’s mind in the downtown of a city is total disregard for the taxpayers.
We could get rid of a few employees at City Hall if we were not so indecisive.
Remember, we are still looking for 10% savings.
Just another Stupid Decision!
This news item harkens me back to the opening scenes of the movie Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman and the reason he was arrested in the first place. Call it idea association.
What we have here is a failya te communicate.
The downtown has been dead for the past 20 years at least. Can’t we all let it rest in peace?
Some of these comments are horrible. So most of you are saying your not going to support local downtown businesses because you don’t want to pay 50 cents? We want to grow PG and clean up downtown but by boycotting it isn’t going to help the situation. So narrow minded. I do think we need to see where the downtown parking money will go and what it will be used for. Also how long it will take to breakeven for the 1.2 million.
I’m not saying city councils decision is a great one (cause most of their decisions don’t seem to be) but I feel in this situation it was bound to happen at some point in time.
Next thing the canopies will be going back up.
There is some real fuzzy logic at city hall. From the point of view of Prince George as a community – here’s what happens.
X million dollars leaves our area and goes to the people who supply the meters. X dollars in interest leaves every year to whoever lends us the money. That money is now out of our community.
The city starts collecting parking fees, and at some point collects more than they paid out, and announces they were smart after all, because they took in more than they paid out. The problem is all the money they took in, came from Prince George residents – that other money is gone forever.
Instead, they could hire more enforcement officers, change the time limit to one hour on the streets near the Canada Revenue Agency (who are the biggest offenders), and the new RCMP station (the other big offenders – weird huh), and the wages paid to those people would stay here, and spent on businesses here.
Instead, we’re firing off a bunch of cash to somewhere else to solve a easy problem with a complex solution. If the old meters got vandalized, the new ones will too.
Some of these comments are horrible. So most of you are saying your not going to support local downtown businesses because you don’t want to pay 50 cents? We want to grow PG and clean up downtown but by boycotting it isn’t going to help the situation. So narrow minded. I do think we need to see where the downtown parking money will go and what it will be used for. Also how long it will take to breakeven for the 1.2 million.
I’m not saying city councils decision is a great one (cause most of their decisions don’t seem to be) but I feel in this situation it was bound to happen at some point in time.
100 machines@ $1,200,000? $12,000/ machine. Wish I had that contract.
Valet parking or free parking at our new Performing Arts Centre? One can only guess.
Downtown? Dead? Rest in Peace? Parking revenue will be used for “grave upkeep, flowers everywhere and often, and last but not least, keep the memory and future dreams (of downtown) alive”. Visit the IPG website and read about downtown. No rose coloured glasses needed.
Council is going against the wishes of the majority of Downtown business owners on this item… Has there been a true cost benefit analysis done to prove the long term benefits to PG with the installation of this new and very expensive meter system?
DNHey: “Council is going against the wishes of the majority of Downtown business owners on this item…”
Yes, they are against losing all the free parking outside of their businesses for their employees. Not too hard to figure out.
As someone said above, if 50 cents or a dollar is going to keep you from going downtown, you likely weren’t headed there to begin with.
Although pay parking in downtown might be an inconvenience for some…that’s all it is. I’ll gladly spend a few cents to park downtown and continue to support the local businesses.
As noted, one would have a tough time finding a municipality of similar size anywhere in this country that doesn’t implement pay parking in some form or another…..I guess all the nay-sayers would rather save their pocket change and put it towards their next Walmart spree……
stupid, stupid stupid.
I love the free parking, but the problem is the workers that felt that it was just for them. I was going to one business and I could never find a parking spot, the business owner told me that as soon as the free parking was put in place the workers across the street stop using the monthly paid parking lot and parked on the street leaving the parking lot empty meaning lost revenue.
I have been in another city that has very expensive parking and is not having problems. But then the store owners pay the parking on Sat to draw the people downtown. They also have rules that no worker is allowed to use parking spots in front of the stores. The rule was not made by the City but by the downtown business people.
“So most of you are saying your not going to support local downtown businesses because you don’t want to pay 50 cents?”
That is not the issue! I question having the city add another $ 1.2 million (barring any predictable cost overruns) to the debt of the city! Our annual taxes are definitely going to go up yet another notch because of this! So it is pay double! Everything will have to be paid for! Higher taxes plus new parking fees? All that from an administration which cut jobs and did an expensive core review (remember?) under the guise of saving in all departments at least 10% without offloading yet more taxes on the people???
How does one spell docile voter amnesia?
But- “credit, debit cards and smart phone technology” .. so does that mean they will no longer take actual money? Not everyone has those means of paying
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Chances are if you dont have a debit, credit or phone … chances are you dont have a car either
“Name me a City equal in size to Prince George that does not have pay parking in the down town”
In fairness, most cities the size of PG have downtown cores that actually attract people. As a result, people don’t mind paying to park there . . .
That was an evasive answer.
“Name me a City equal in size to Prince George that does not have pay parking in the down town”?
“The rule was not made by the City but by the downtown business people.”
EXACTLY!!!!
Our DBIA does squat. It is toothless. I relly do not know what they spend the money on. Highway or 3rd and George robbery ….
Put parking meters everywhere except in front of Northern Hardware. That is the only reason I go downtown.
There are quite a number of cities the size of PG which are much more proactive in their downtown parking policy. Many are distance based. The closer to the key stores, the more expensive it becomes. By the time one goes two blocks away from a main shopping street there are likely no meters.
Look at the “Soo” in Ontario. 400 meters compared to about 1,600 meters in Lethbridge. Unless they have meters in parking lots, which some places do, that tells you a story right there.
Here is the parking page from the Soo:
http://www.cityssm.on.ca/Open_Page.aspx?ID=318&deptid=1
âThe City operates and maintains 400 electronic parking meters (one or three hour limit) in the downtown core (Pim Street to Gore Street). Meter payment is required between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday.â
So, shop at night or the weekends when those low paid Canadian Government (Harper Government) office workers do not take all the spaces, and the parking is free â¦.. voila.
âThe cost is $1/hour in Queenstown (Pim Street to Dennis Street) and .50 per hour in the City Centre (Dennis Street to Gore Street).â
Do we know yet what it will be here?
âAccessible Parking Permit holders and Veterans (Poppy License Plates) are granted 2 hours free parking at meters in the downtown core.â
That is fairly standard in Ontario. Those people do not have to park in handicapped parking. They can park anywhere they wish. Time to do that here as well.
âThe City also operates several âtwo-hour freeâ parking lots, and two âpermit onlyâ parking lots. See links below for details with respect to municipal parking lots.â
Now there is the real attraction. Willing to park a bit of a distance away? Free parking!!! Wow!!! And for those who work, long term parking permits. Probably not a fortune either.
It is called a graduated system geared to get workers away from destination shopping and get money from those who want convenience parking. Just remember how far one has to walk from a parking spot to a store in an enclosed mall. So, that free parking lot does the same â free parking, but longer walk, which is typically fine if one goes to more than one place.
I think the Soo system is typical in cities that size in the USA.
“That was an evasive answer”
No it wasn’t. I was merely pointing out that most other cities can treat downtown parking as a commodity of sorts, because people actually use it. In a way, it’s basic supply and demand.
The city of PG makes such a pittance on parking, that I actually question why they are even focusing so much time and effort on it. I personally think their efforts would be better spent focusing on trying to improve the downtown core in a matter that would attract people to it. When and if that happens, then perhaps they could focus their efforts on parking management.
They are stuck in such a time warp that I’m surprised they aren’t going back to having meters that accept nickels and dimes.
Oh and for the record, I have no problem with paying for parking. I just don’t see any real upside for PG given their current situation.
I actually wouldn’t be surprised if this new system was a money loser for the city once everything is factored in.
Get rid of the DBIA and keep the City out of the planning for the town core. I mentioned the DBIA to a business owner in another city and she could not believe that they have a budget and office. In her city the business owners just met at someone business and the do their own planning. By the way they were able to keep and improve their business when two malls opened with out hand outs from the citizens. When they do upgrades to their streets, planters, street lights, etc. the money does not come from the City or the taxpayers but themselves.
Sorry it is off topic of the meters but I am tired of people saying that the City has to clean up the City. Tax the heck out of the business owners that will not fix up their buildings and help bring in more business downtown.
pg66… you just described the businesses in The Gateway (20th & Victoria area). They do all the improvements themselves.
Downtown businesses could learn a lot from them.
The city starts collecting parking fees, and at some point collects more than they paid out, and announces they were smart after all, because they took in more than they paid out. The problem is all the money they took in, came from Prince George residents – that other money is gone forever.
Instead, they could hire more enforcement officers, change the time limit to one hour on the streets near the Canada Revenue Agency (who are the biggest offenders), and the new RCMP station (the other big offenders – weird huh), and the wages paid to those people would stay here, and spent on businesses here.
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ski50~~the one voice of reason, is anyone listening???
$1.2 MILLION…so we can have the privilege of parking downtown?? And then we can pay $1.00 + PST and GST per hour of parking?? And let us not even talk about what happens if the service was a little slow and your a few minutes late getting back to your vehicle. Thanks, but I’ll boycott the whole downtown as much as is possible.
I’d rather see them *** it up against the wall on a PAC…
“Welcome to the 21st century. Many modern systems don’t deal in cash anymore.” .. another condescending response from jeebee, yawn….funny, but I thought cash was still legal tender. No place in Canada can refuse cash for product, people just don’t push the issue because its’ easier to capitulate. Right jeebee?
Downtown parking is bogus. I sense that this is another project being pushed by the finance committee.
We are being hosed by this City every time we turn around.
They better put some meters in the City parking lot, so that those bozo’s can pay their fair share. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. Right?
I will avoid downtown as much as possible. I am sick and tired of all the crap from City Hall, whether it is parking, garbage, utilities, taxes, or whatever. All they can do is increase the cost of living in this town.
The next original idea that comes from City hall will be the first one.
Have a nice day.
I pay over $5,000 in property taxes. I resent having to pay for parking when I work and live downtown and already pay a hefty premium to do that.
The people making business decisions on behalf of this city don’t know what they are doing. Going to Chitown to learn more about parking enforcement systems, what a joke and a complete waste of time. I’ll tell you what; if I owned a company that stood to make a one million dollar sale of my products, I WOULD COME TO YOU! as would most companies interested in selling their product. These two yahoos went to the trade show to be SOLD a system, they walked right into the salespeople’s hands. Easy money.
metalman.
Pylot Project wrote: “.. you just described the businesses in The Gateway (20th & Victoria area). They do all the improvements themselves.”
It is the Gateway BIA (Business Improvement Area) which works the same as the Downtown BIA in that the City collects the money from the property owners and the owners and business operators make the decisions of how they want to use the money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqw-EPdb-QM
All I can say is that I think the Gateway has certainly been visually more effective than the downtown association. Then again, they do not have quite the same problems. So, it would be like comparing apples to oranges.
“the new RCMP station (the other big offenders)”
It is the contractors who are the “offenders”. The cause? The city should not have accepted their parking plan during the construction period. They could have made them provide a shuttle service if there was no parking available locally.
Oooops. did I say construction parking plan? Wonder if this city knows such a thing exists.
Winnipeg … a bit larger than PG…. but
“Getting around downtown and parking is easy with 32,000 parking spots, the free Downtown Spirit shuttle bus, 2 kilometres of indoor walkways, dozens of bus stops, and many bike racks.”
Downtown Parking
City of Winnipeg Street Parking Meters
Saturdays: 2 hours free
Sundays: free parking
Monday-Friday, 5:30pm-9am: free parking
Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm: $1/hour
Betcha we are not going to get Saturday 2 hour free parking and free parking after 5:30.
And we certainly will not get a free shuttle service between downtown, Parkwood, the Gateway and Pine Centre …… nah … why would any self respecting city be that kind to its shoppers?
Control freaks is what City Admin and Council are. And the BIA is an organization with no chutspah.
Kelowna … also a bit larger than PG, but small city at heart and in reality when it comes to some things … :-)
Downtown Parking Information
Metered and Reserved Lots
6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday
FREE PARKING â evenings, weekends and holidays!
That means prime time shopping provides free parking to people downtown.
Metered lots are FREE for disabled pass holders. Time limits remain in effect.
Parkades
FREE PARKING after hours!
Chapman Parkade
345 Lawrence Avenue
Hourly rate – 50¢ Daily rate – $4
Rates in effect until 6 p.m.
Clearance: 6’10.5″ (approx. 2.1 metres)
Sure can tell it is Kelowna downtown and not Vancouver downtown!!!
So what is PG proposing????
Okay, last one.
Kitchener, ON. City of over 200,000.
350 free two hour parking spaces in defined downtown core.
“There is no re-parking allowed within 5 hours of initial parking in the two hour free parking spaces in downtown Kitchener”
http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/ParkingOptions.asp
This is the map where parking is free for two hours.
http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/resources/2h8midnight.jpg
So, the take away is this
1. What are the rates PG will charge, for what time periods and for what locations?
2. Is a “free” shuttle being considered by merchants in 4 shopping precincts between and including downtown and Pine Centre. That could be during peak shopping hours.
3. will there be some free parking at city lots?
gus wrote “Is a “free” shuttle being considered by merchants…”
I don’t think that would ever happen. Business owners are too cheap to pony up for that, and residents generally don’t use transit of any kind. I lived in PG for 37 years, and I don’t ever recall ever seeing a bus with more than 6 people on it.
Gus, great research but it is too late: They decided quite a while ago that they are going to do this and no amount of common sense ideas and input will be allowed to interfere with that!
I won’t take the chance on getting a $60.00 parking ticket because the line up in the bank was a little slow….I’ll just boycott the downtown branch. Parking meters are going to finish off the businesses that are hanging on downtown….maybe that’s what they are trying to accomplish?
R.I.P Downtown PG! Our council is so fricken oblivious to reality, it is mind boggling! Too bad for the last few businesses worth going to downtown. Pretty soon it will be nothing buy crack whores, drug pushers and beggers… oops hold on TOO LATE!
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