Comstock: Tax free parking everywhere, including malls

As Mayor Miller contemplates the heady new powers of the City of Toronto Act, his first pronouncement was, why not punish Downtown neighbourhoods with a new tax on parking? Taxing only Downtown’s already high-priced parking is harmful to the economic development of a vibrant, diversified core. This negative reinforcement is supposed to drive customers to the TTC and was probably chosen because Toronto can easily implement a tax backed up by, perhaps, the most aggressive parking-ticket-writing force in North America.

An economic principal known as supply and demand controls the price of parking. Typical costs Downtown are $25 for 9-to-5 commuters and maybe $8 to $10 for evening visitors. There is lots of capacity in the evening. Shoppers at St. Lawrence Market can pay $2 per hour for on-street parking. Green P municipal lots are the best-priced and best-run lots in the city. The city requires a diverse transportation system of which automobiles are a very large part and are indispensable for many workers.

To fairly address the issue of reducing the reliance on the car through a parking tax, tax all free parking. Free parking is the lure of shopping centres, Wal-Marts and Home Depot. “Acres of Free Parking” are taxed as undeveloped land. Meanwhile your neighbourhood retail strips face poorly kept streets, with parking enforcement officers just waiting to make quota and print out another $30 ticket. Taxing the auto-centric shopping malls’ free parking would help put the neighbourhoods on equal footing.

In Bloor West Village, the mayor’s neighbourhood, lots off-street parking was built when the subway line was put through. The area has subway and shopper parking. Neither is free.

That is what works; you need some balance in transit and parking. The same example is seen in Greektown with the same group of parking lots just above the subway line along the Danforth. Jane Jacobs pointed out 40 years ago that neighbourhoods have to “maintain an area that is usable, in a civilized way, not only for its own residents but for other users—workers, customers, visitors—from the city as a whole.” Mrs. Jacobs points out that business districts need a diversity of customers spread throughout the day.

If the goal of this new tax on Downtown parking is to reduce congestion, computer-timed signal lights would be more efficient. If the goal is just the need for money why not toll the Gardiner and the Don Valley? I don’t know why the politicians haven’t jumped for this tax revenue stream? The folks who commute into Downtown aren’t living Downtown and don’t vote Downtown so where is their hang up?

The reality is many large urban centres have toll roads or bridges. It’s a user-pay-for-service option. With 200,000 cars per day on the Gardiner Expressway it would yield $73 million annually for a $1 toll. The Don Valley commuter would gladly pay a dollar or two, if you could speed up the drive a bit. You could finance a lot of infrastructure with that kind of income. If the toll were quick and cheap it wouldn’t affect occasional visitors coming in for a game, shopping or theatre. The Gardiner Expressway would then help to support itself and a diversified transportation system.

Here is a positive reinforcement idea from BIAs across Toronto to help increase TTC usage. Thousands of passengers travel by our storefronts, but are unable to drop in. If passengers could use their transfers to get off and then re-board along their ride, neighbourhood businesses and TTC riders both benefit. A commuter from St. Clair might want to stop at the jewelry shops of Yonge and Dundas on their way to the TD Centre. Or, you could meet your spouse for dinner on the Danforth along the way home. This would certainly save car trips, make the TTC user friendly and help the neighbourhood retailers

Adding a tax to parking Downtown undermines Downtown’s competitiveness in attracting the driving public.

It takes away the diversity we need to compete. A significant percentage of customers come by car. Take that away and the many Downtown cultural attractions throughout will suffer. Downtown Toronto has enough problems with bodies lining Bay St. sidewalks.