Yes
Although most of us, as starving students, complain about feeling the bite of yet another fee in our everyday lives, we aren’t that bad off. If you can afford to drive a car to and from school every day and haven’t bought a parking pass for McMahon or the Arts Parkade, then you’ve been free riding the parking in Calgary Transit lots, either at Brentwood, McMahon or far, far away. U-Passes make it very easy for students to harness the power of transit when they feel like it. Despite this, when a three dollar fee for daily parking is introduced, there is outrage.
Although no one thinks about this, there are significant capital as well as operating costs that accompany these parking spots. Found in Calgary Transit’s 2003 report to the Standing Policy Committee, these 11,000 park and ride spots take up approximately 90 acres of prime Calgary real estate. If these 90 acres were not being used by Calgary Transit to house cars, they would be already-developed $300,000 dollar condos. Instead of offering you no parking and a flashy condo to look at and envy, Calgary Transit gave you parking spots.
This idea is not a new one. Calgary Transit introduced a pilot project titled “Pay for Premium Parking” in 2003, guaranteeing parking for those willing to pay a $50 monthly fee. The idea driving this plan was good. By instituting a three dollar daily rate, the people unwilling to pay for parking will not drive, hence leading to more spots being available for those who are willing to pay. This could even lead to carpooling thus limiting the effect on the environment.
A viable argument against these fees could be that fixed or lower income transit users would not be able to cope with the increase. To deal with this issue, Vibrant Communities Calgary introduced a program called “fair fares” in 2000 to help the people receiving Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped. Throughout the following years, it grew to benefit low income users as well as those on AISH. According to the fair fares fact sheet for November 2007, the City of Calgary “committed to fund the low income transit pass program to through 2008.” With the load of positive reactions from its users, no doubt it will be carried on in years to come. Even us starving students can agree that if lower prices for transit passes are available, the increases in price shouldn’t be an issue.
Three dollars would go a long way for Calgary Transit. Reported on calgaryherald.com, the expected annual revenue is approximately $6 million, which could go towards covering the $1.2 million that is spent on operation and maintenance of the parking lots. The rest could be used to repair and revamp the more than 20-year-old park and ride operations, which, according to the 2003 report, require “higher operating expenditures to address life-cycle maintenance issues.”
So the question should not be why should I pay for parking when I pay to ride, but why should I complain about getting caught in something I was taking advantage? If you are still befuddled and bothered by this fee, convert this frustration in motivation to find another free ride– or just toughen up and pay the three dollars.
No
The Council of the City of Calgary, sometimes affectionately called Silly Hall, recently placed into effect a policy of charging a daily fee for all citizens who park in transit parking lots.
Although overdue, perhaps it’s not too late to examine the implications of this policy. All citizens will now be obligated by city law to pay three dollars per day if they plan on parking in any park and ride lots. To compound the costs further, Calgary Transit is in the process of increasing the prices of monthly transit passes from $75 to $90. By this time next year, the costs of using the C-Train could be around $150 per month. The most obvious result of this dramatic increase in fees will likely be a decrease in train ridership. Many citizens will not be able to afford such a high priced commute. People will eventually realize that driving downtown with two or even one other person and splitting the cost of parking (about $20 per day) will be less expensive than taking the C-Train. With the price of gasoline going down, this alternative will seem more and more feasible. Former train-commuters will start driving again which will increase our carbon emissions and add to the city’s pollution and congestion.
Citizens know that adding money to city coffers is not the entire solution to our transportation problems. This money has to be put to efficient and effective use. Recently, our current administration under Mayor Bronconnier spent millions of dollars rebuilding LRT stations downtown so that trains can be converted from three cars to four. Having four-car trains will slightly relieve the LRT system that already operates at above capacity in peak times, but ultimately, this is a temporary and inefficient solution for a growing city of over one million residents. Perhaps more controversially, City Council last year approved a 17 per cent raise in pay (over three years) for its members. These are just a few examples of the irresponsible ways in which our city administration can misuse the money it receives, which demonstrates the futility of throwing more money at a problem that isn’t being handled correctly in the first place.
Lastly, there exists a solution that could be far more effective in increasing the income that our transit system needs. The city could design a system that requires all users to pay the ticket fee. Currently, it is not mandatory to purchase a ticket to ride the train. If you do not purchase a ticket, you run a (very small) risk of being cornered by a peace officer and fined. An everyday user of the C-Train could expect to be asked to show their proof of purchase perhaps twice in a month at predictable times of the week and never during rush hour. Such leniency leaves a lot of room for system abuse. While it is difficult to predict how many LRT users abuse the privilege by not purchasing a ticket, such a lax system of control will encourage such behavior. If the city makes payment mandatory in order to use the C-Train it will certainly result in an increase in revenue which can be used to improve the services of our transit system.