The City of Peterborough is conducting a public survey of what downtown parking is like for residents and visitors.
“Public feedback is needed to better understand user experience and identify opportunities to improve convenience and accessibility for everyone who parks downtown,” reads a May 22 media release from the city.
The online survey, which is available at www.connectptbo.ca/parkingsurvey until June 26, comes three months after a decision at city council to suspend parking violations for vehicles parked at non-functioning parking meters.
“The general experience of people trying to park downtown is not a good experience,” said councillor Alex Bierk at the March 23 general committee meeting, speaking in support of the motion brought forward by his fellow Town Ward councillor Joy Lachica.
Both Bierk and Lachica said they were spending a lot of time responding to messages from people who were unable to pay for parking, citing non-functioning metres, with some subsequently receiving tickets.
Various other concerns with downtown parking were raised during the meeting, including that people are not aware of who to contact at the city when a parking metre is not working. Both Town Ward councillors noted that parking issues may dissuade people from coming downtown and could affect downtown businesses.
“The City of Peterborough is reviewing the downtown parking experience, including parking meters, payment options, the HotSpot app, signage, enforcement, customer service, communication, and overall ease of use,” the city’s website states. “This survey is intended to help us better understand what is working, what is frustrating, and what improvements would make downtown parking better for residents, customers, and visitors.”
The 37-question survey takes around 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and includes questions about downtown parking frequency, challenges with parking, issues with parking meters, payment options for parking meters including the option of no longer accepting coins, the fairness of downtown parking enforcement, and more.
The city collects about $480,000 annually in revenue from downtown parking, with parking meters and the HotSpot parking app accounting for the majority of that revenue at about $30,000 per month.
