Efforts to get people downtown are about to get tougher.

The organization that represents downtown merchants says the city’s decision to remove parking meters will deal another blow to the struggling area.

“This change doesn’t make it easier for people to come downtown,” Kate Fenske, the CEO of Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, said Thursday.

Kate Fenske, CEO of Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, says the move goes against city council-endorsed strategies to support economic growth downtown. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

The city announced Wednesday its 250 parking pay stations will be removed between July 2 and Aug. 31. Drivers will have to use their phone to pay, either through an app or by calling 1-888-680-7275, or use their computer. Paying on the street with cash or credit card would be rendered obsolete.

The city says the technology behind the meters is being phased out across Canada, and it would cost $3.6 million to replace the stations in operation. Removing them will save $1 million in yearly operating costs.

“We understand the financial and technical drivers behind the change, but still believe decisions like this should be part of a larger parking strategy and (we) would appreciate more time to navigate any changes that impact the downtown community,” Fenske said.

The move goes against city council-endorsed strategies to support economic growth downtown, the CEO said.

The only option for customers who want to use cash is to pre-purchase parking vouchers at the Parking Store at 495 Portage Ave. and two 311 counters as of July 2.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the potential removal of parking meters was discussed when the city began cutting down on the number of pay stations in 2018. Currently, 80 per cent of parking is paid through the app; only 20 per cent is paid via cash or credit card, the city has said.

The city announced Wednesday its 250 parking pay stations will be removed between July 2 and Aug. 31. (Brook Jones / Free Press files)

The Winnipeg Parking Authority has the power to make the change without consulting businesses or city council, he said.

“This has been talked about for a long time… this is ultimately about getting value for money for the people of Winnipeg, and it’s ultimately about good customer service,” he told said.

On Wednesday, Exchange District BIZ executive director David Pensato said the organization was involved in the 2018 discussions. It raised concern about eliminating on-street paid parking then, but had heard no followup.

Business owners were contemplating fallout from the change Thursday.

At Across the Board Game Café in the Exchange District, customers and staff alike take advantage of the street parking available around the building.

Asa Hamm, the kitchen manager, envisioned hesitation and pushback to the change.

“I’m going to grumble about it, too. It’s just going to be one of those things,” he said.

“I think the way they’re changing it is a bad move, because it just feels we’re not getting more advanced, we’re just changing it for the sake of what? Changing it?”

He doesn’t expect it to put a dent on business as long as parking doesn’t get more expensive as a result.

“As long as parking doesn’t go up by $2 again, it’ll be OK,” he said.

After the announcement was made Wednesday, Coun. Evan Duncan, the chair of city council’s property and development council, suggested surge pricing based on traffic could be implemented in the future.

Asked about the prospect Thursday, Gillingham said he wasn’t “closed to the idea” but it wasn’t part of current discussions.

“That’s not a stated goal right now,” he said.

Two inner-city councillors said neither they nor their constituents were consulted on the change.

“I really think before we put an obstacle for one in five folks that are visiting the Exchange District or the downtown, that we should have had a conversation,” Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins said.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) said her constituents currently use the booklets regularly and already find them inaccessible and hard to purchase.

“There’s been no plan of action. The Parking Store has limited hours that sell the scratch tickets that people would need, so there was no plan in trying to get those into stores to distribute so people would have easy access to them prior to taking these meters out,” she said.

“This just really isn’t how the city should be doing business.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

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