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Integrated Planning & Public Works
STAFF REPORT
Transportation Services
Title:
Report Number:
Author:
Meeting Type:
Council/Committee Date:
File:
Attachments:
Ward No.:
Parking Utilization Study and Future Impact Analysis
IPPW2016-057
Christine Tettman
Finance & Strategic Planning Committee Meeting
June 27, 2016
[File]
Appendix A
Uptown Ward 7
Recommendation:
1. That Waterloo City Council approve IPPW2016-057
2. That proceeds from the sale of any City parking lands be deposited into the
Parking Reserve to fund the development of new parking infrastructure and/or
maintenance of existing parking infrastructure.
3. That Waterloo City Council direct staff to continue to use parking pricing as a
Transportation Demand Management tool to foster active transportation and
multiple occupant vehicular travel.
4. That Council confirm their support of the recommendation of the UpTown
Waterloo Parking Strategy identifying the following locations as potential
locations for additional future municipal parking supply to facilitate development
in the UpTown;
a. Single level parking deck over the Dupont Lot
b. Parking garage on the Waterloo Town Square South Lot
c. Parking garage north of Erb and east of King Street
d. Parking garage on the City Hall parking Lot
e. Single level parking deck over the Waterloo Town Square North Lot
5. That beginning in 2018, staff undertake annual parking utilization studies to
monitor LRT ridership uptake and its impact on demand for public parking
facilities, and at two year intervals commencing in 2023.
6. That Waterloo City Council approve $15,000 in funding from the Parking Reserve
in 2018 to conduct an updated parking utilization study.
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
7. That Waterloo City Council direct staff to explore partnerships and other
opportunities to create new public parking facilities.
8. That Transportation Services and Finance provide Council with a financial model
for City parking facilities including a growth rate to establish fees and charges for
2018, after the completion of the comprehensive Zoning By-law Review.
a. That the financial model be created to show parking operating and capital
expenses funded entirely by user fees.
9. That Waterloo City Council freeze parking rates for 2017.
10. That Waterloo City Council direct staff to report back with updated financial
forecasting data annually when setting parking fees and charges.
A.
Executive Summary
Staff has undertaken work to develop a parking enterprise financial model to be
used in setting future parking fees. Phase I (updated parking utilization study)
and Phase II (public engagement) of this project have been completed.
Phase III (parameter development for forecasting) of the project has interrelated
components with the City’s Zoning By-law which is currently under review. For
the purpose of consistency between the two projects, the growth forecast
component has been removed from the Parking Utilization Study and Future
Impact Analysis project and will be completed as part of the Zoning By-law
Review.
The parking utilization study, updated in the spring of 2016, showed parking
availability in the UpTown BIA with maximum overall parking accumulation
occurring on weekdays with off street parking reaching a utilization rate of 60%
and on-street parking reaching a utilization rate of 58%. On Saturday, maximum
overall parking accumulation reached a rate of 57% on-street and 38% off street.
The public engagement phase showed that respondents generally agree the
supply of parking is sufficient and 6-10 minutes is a reasonable walk time from a
parking space to a destination. Some feedback supported using parking rates to
encourage alternate forms of transportation and respondents generally agreed
parking should be paid for through user fees with some respondents supporting
funding parking from user fees and municipal taxes.
The ION is expected to serve as much as 45% of travel demand in the King
Street corridor and 25% of the demand from suburban areas by 2031. Changes
in transportation mode choices will affect the demand for parking. ION ridership
uptake and any associated shifts in demand for parking will be a critical
component of the parking financial model going forward.
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
The Uptown Waterloo Parking Strategy identified potential locations for additional
future parking supply to facilitate development in the Uptown. Providing
additional parking supply on these sites and shifting to structured parking would
free up lands currently used for municipal parking for development.
B.
Financial Implications
Staff has developed a financial model including 2016-2020 expenditure and revenue
forecasts and approved capital costs, which includes building a parking structure in
2017. Although the recent parking utilization study does not indicate the need to
provide additional parking in the short term, the financial model was created
incorporating the approved capital budget to identify the current state of affairs for
the parking program.
Further, the model was developed with the intention to illustrate how the City of
Waterloo’s parking program could function as an independent and self-sufficient
business unit. While attempting to fund the approved capital program, including a
parking structure in 2017, a 0% annual parking rate increase will render the parking
program in a deficit position in 2018.
Despite the results of the current financial model, staff are recommending a
continued parking rate freeze in 2017, to allow for continued support to the UpTown
BIA during ION construction. Staff will report back to Council in 2017 to set 2018
parking rates. The 2018 rates will incorporate forecasting information consistent with
the revised zoning by-law.
C.
Technology Implications
There are no technology implications with this report.
D.
Legal Considerations
Staff did not seek legal advice.
E.
Link to Strategic Plan
(Strategic Priorities: Multi-modal Transportation, Infrastructure Renewal, Strong Community,
Environmental Leadership, Corporate Excellence, Economic Development)
Multi-Modal Transportation – Building a fully-connected community through a
multi-modal transportation network.
Infrastructure Renewal – Actively planning for future infrastructure needs.
F.
Previous Reports on this Topic
IPPW2015-046
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G.
Integrated Planning & Public Works
Approvals
Name
Signature
Date
Author: Christine Tettman
Director: Roslyn Lusk
Commissioner: Cameron Rapp
Finance: Keshwer Patel
CAO
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Parking Utilization Study and Future Impact Analysis
IPPW2016-057
Section #1 - Background
When considering municipal parking rates in 2014, Waterloo City Council directed staff
to create a framework with Council to establish a parking enterprise financial model that
would be used to set future parking rates.
There are many variables and unknowns involved in the development of a parking
financial model. These variables and unknowns include, but are not limited to ION
influences on parking demand, the potential for reuse of existing municipal parking lots
for non-parking purposes, funding constraints, future development, parking variances,
the composition of city parking facilities (structured vs surface), demographic shifts
influencing travel modes, technology and consumer price sensitivity.
Through the 2015 budget process funding was approved to hire a consultant to
undertake the work on this project in the following phases.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Phase I – Utilization Study Update
Phase II – Public Engagement
Phase III – Parameter Development
Phase IV – Financial Model Development & Parking Enterprise Recommendation
Phase I and II have been completed. In mid-2016 staff intended to host a workshop
with Council to develop parameters for a parking enterprise financial model, being
Phase III of this project. However, as the City of Waterloo is currently completing a
Zoning By-law review, which will be used, in part, to set parking requirements for new
development, conducting a Council workshop to develop parameters for a financial
model independently is premature.
The comprehensive Zoning By-law Review is being undertaken to implement the Official
Plan and to update zoning regulations to reflect current planning standards and best
practices.
These two projects have interrelated components. The parking project will use the
approved zoning regulations to determine a growth rate for parking demand. For the
purpose of consistency between these two projects, the scope of the Parking Utilization
Study and Future Impact Analysis has changed to remove the growth forecast
component. The growth and forecasting component will be completed in conjunction
with the comprehensive Zoning By-law Review with collaboration between
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Transportation Services and Planning Approvals staff. This growth forecast will be used
by Transportation Services to assist with parameter development (Phase III) and to
forecast future parking demand. Future parking demand will be used to determine the
timing and need for additional city parking facilities, as well as to establish the parking
rates to fund the required infrastructure (Phase IV).
With the removal of the growth forecasting component from the Parking Utilization
Study and Future Impact Analysis project, the financial model created shows a
snapshot of current revenues, operating expenses, approved capital expenses and the
parking rates required to meet these costs.
For the purposes of this staff report, the information forming sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
has been provided by the project consultant, Paradigm Transportation Solutions Ltd.,
and their project team.
Section #2 – Utilization Study
The City of Waterloo’s municipal parking supply in the UpTown BIA core has been
altered over the last year as a result of ION construction and in fill development. Table
1, shown below, summarizes the parking space reductions and was provided to Council
through report CAO2015-007
Table 1: UpTown BIA Parking Space Reductions
Project
ION Implementation
ION Implementation
ION implementation
ION Implementation
ION Implementation
ION Implementation
Streetscape Redesign
Redevelopment
(privately owned land)
Location
Waterloo Town Square North Lot*
King Street - East Side between Erb St E and just
north of Parkade
King Street – East Side between Willis Way &
William
Caroline Street – East Side between Willis Way &
Alexandra
Caroline Street – East Side between William &
Freemont
Caroline Street - West Side between Freemont &
Allen
King (Erb to Central) west side
UpTown core
Spaces
Lost
14
2
15
10
10
15
22
74
Total
162
*This number is an estimate only. The new parking lot layout has not yet been finalized.
In an attempt to off-set the parking reductions resulting from construction in the UpTown
BIA, City staff have facilitated the addition of parking in alternate locations. Table 2
shows the expected increase in parking supply.
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Table 2: UpTown BIA Parking Space Increases
Project
ION Implementation
ION Implementation
ION Implementation
Location
Erb Street – North Side between Caroline & Albert
Caroline Street – West Side between Albert and
Erb
King Street – West Side between William and
Allen
Total
Spaces
Added
7
21
14
42
Since report CAO2015-007 was brought before Council in May 2015, the city has also
expanded the municipal parking supply to include two temporary parking lots at the
corner of Regina Street and Bridgeport Road. These two parking lots have expanded
the municipal parking supply by an additional 92 spaces.
Studying parking utilization is essential to understanding how the product (municipal
parking) is being consumed by the public. Parking is used in various ways. Most
notably it can be split into two major user groups:
i.
long-stay storage parkers (i.e. employees); and
ii.
short-term, high-turnover parkers (i.e. customers, patrons, visitors, those having
business in the UpTown).
Residential parking demand also occurs in UpTown BIA, but is less of a concern for the
city as residential developments generally meet their own parking needs on site under
current zoning regulations.
The parking utilization study was undertaken to provide Council and staff with a current
understanding of how municipal parking is being used in the UpTown. A map of the
study area is shown in Appendix A. Prior to this work, the last assessment was
undertaken in 2006. Since that time, development has occurred, the overall parking
supply has changed, the BIA boundary has been reshaped and municipal policies have
changed. Further, with ION planned for its first full year of service in 2018, it is
important to establish a comprehensive baseline condition.
Data was collected on both parking supply and demand fronts:
•
Parking Supply – Within the study area there are 4,345 parking stalls. Of these,
the City of Waterloo controls 2,400 (245 on-street and 2,165 on its off-street
facilities) or 55% of the total parking supply. The majority of parking within the
UpTown BIA is located within a comfortable 5-minute walk, or approximately 500
meters, of the intersection of King Street and Willis Way.
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Parking Demand – Data was collected from 8:00 AM through 8:00 PM at 30minute intervals. Typical weekday and weekend (Saturday) conditions were
studied. Maximum parking usage occurred during weekdays with over 2,300
vehicles observed (53% utilization). On Saturday, this value reduced to just over
1,280 (30%) which is expected as the need to accommodate employees (longterm storage parking) is significantly reduced on weekends.
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Uptown Waterloo Utilization - April 2016
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Weekday On Street
Weekday Off Street
Weekend On Street
19:30
19:00
18:30
18:00
17:30
17:00
16:30
16:00
15:30
15:00
14:30
14:00
13:30
13:00
12:30
12:00
11:30
11:00
10:30
10:00
9:30
9:00
8:30
8:00
0%
Weekend Off Street
City of Waterloo operated parking was found to operate at levels above the overall
assessment:
•
Parking Demand – It was found that maximum usage occurred during weekdays
with over 1,240 vehicles observed (58% utilization on-street and 60% off-street).
On Saturday this value reduced to just over 860 (57% utilization on-street and
38% off-street) which is expected as the need to accommodate employees (longterm storage parking) is significantly reduced on weekends.
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Uptown Waterloo Utilization (City Lots) - April 2016
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Weekday On Street
Weekday Off Street
Weekend On Street
19:30
19:00
18:30
18:00
17:30
17:00
16:30
16:00
15:30
15:00
14:30
14:00
13:30
13:00
12:30
12:00
11:30
11:00
10:30
10:00
9:30
9:00
8:30
8:00
0%
Weekend Off Street
The following city owned parking facilities exhibited the highest usage:
•
•
•
•
All on-street parking;
Surface parking on the Waterloo Town Square site (north and south);
Public Parking areas near the Bauer Lofts; and
The Alexandra lot (southwest corner of Alexandra and Caroline).
Further, the city has a number of parking facilities which are underutilized. Most notable
is the UpTown Parkade which reaches only 69% utilization on weekdays and 4% on
weekends.
Section #3 – Public Engagement
Two public engagement sessions were held on April 26, 2016; one from 2pm to 4pm
and the second from 6pm to 8pm. The sessions were advertised on the City’s website,
in the Waterloo Chronicle, in parking facilities, through the UpTown Waterloo Business
Improvement Area office, on screens at city facilities and through social media. Public
feedback opportunities were provided at the workshop and through the city’s website
and engage Waterloo following the workshop.
The following points provide a high-level synopsis of recurring comments, concerns
and/or recommendations from stakeholders and the public:
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Supply
• Respondents generally agree that the current supply of parking in the City of
Waterloo is sufficient; however a few respondents noted the need for more
parking in certain areas within the UpTown BIA, particularly at Waterloo Town
Square and close to Valu Mart.
• Respondents indicated that parking should be located near ‘main streets’ (e.g.,
Erb Street West, Father David Bauer Drive, Caroline Street, Regina Street,
University Avenue), but provided in parking garages or underground regardless
of ownership. Recurring comments suggest that the land used for surface lots
and on-street parking is too valuable and should be re-purposed for other uses
(e.g., public realm improvements, increasing development density).
Demand
• Most respondents park in city owned lots, although many respondents indicated
that the decision to use a publicly- or privately-owned lot is based on
convenience relative to their intended destination.
• Most respondents agree that 6-10 minutes is a reasonable amount of time to
walk from a parking space to a destination.
Utilization
• Parking lots are used to access a variety of amenities and services, but primarily
shopping, recreation and entertainment, personal business, work and social
activities.
• Most respondents park for approximately two hours when using a city-owned lot.
Alternative Modes
• Recurring feedback from a few respondents noted that parking rates should be
set to encourage a shift to other modes of transportation (e.g., transit use, cycling
and walking).
• Feedback recommended including bicycle parking in the study.
Financial
• Respondents generally agree that parking should be paid for through user fees,
although there was some support to finance parking through a combination of
user fees and municipal taxes.
• There was higher support for establishing parking rates that reflect the demand
for parking at the specific lot, rather than applying the same rate across all lots.
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Section #4 – Multi-Modal Transportation
The 2011 Transportation Tomorrow Survey conducted by the Region of Waterloo noted
that about 86% of all trips made to and from UpTown Waterloo were made in private
automobiles. Just over 7% of total demand was served by transit, with walking and
cycling accounting for about 3% each.
The Region of Waterloo and City of Waterloo Transportation Master Plans call for a
significant reduction in the amount of Single-Occupant Vehicles (SOV) in the Region.
This is expected to be achieved in part through the implementation of the ION which is
expected to serve as much as 45% of forecast travel demand along the King Street
corridor by 2031. Additionally, the ION is expected to serve at least 25% of the demand
from suburban areas and more within the urbanized area.
Moving Forward 2031, Region of Waterloo Transportation Master Plan, January
2011.
This increase in transit use is expected to affect long-term storage parkers (i.e.
employees) and reduce their demand for parking to a greater degree than short-term,
high-turnover shoppers, although impacts on the parking demand from that group are
also expected.
The uptake in ION ridership and its effect on the need for parking will be a critical
component of the parking financial model going forward. The model will also depend on
development/intensification in the UpTown BIA. The Zoning By-law Review will
consider modal splits indirectly in the establishment of parking rates.
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Parking supply will also be affected by development. The 2008 Parking Strategy
identified a plan for the City to divest itself of surface lots through the construction of
parking garages, to open up lands for redevelopment. City staff are of a similar opinion
today. To date, the only parking lands that have been redeveloped are the lands
occupied by the new Balsillie School of International Affairs.
Section #5 – Parking Best Practices
When parking is “free” it encourages the use of single occupant vehicles, adding more
vehicles to roadways. Those vehicles must park in facilities when they reach their
destination, whether it is for a short or long time. The more vehicles that have to be
accommodated, the more congestion. This leads to the perception that there is never
enough parking particularly parking that is close to the drivers’ destination.
A survey of 107 U.S. cities (“Public Parking Fees and Fines: A Survey of U.S. Cities,”
Amy H. Auchincloss, et. al., 2014) found that the cost to use a parking space has a
direct correlation with the percentage of people who take public transit. Charge more for
parking and more people will take transit. Free and abundant parking provides no
incentive for car drivers to even consider another means of travelling to their
destination. By simply charging a small daily amount for parking, travellers may
consider how they travel to UpTown Waterloo, perhaps choosing to walk, cycle or
rideshare. Waterloo City Council approved the 2008 UpTown Waterloo Parking
Strategy, which included a directive to price parking so that it encourages alternate
forms of transportation and shift the true cost of parking to the end user as well as
fostering Transportation Demand Management (TDM). In accordance with best
practices used by many municipalities, the 2008 Parking Strategy for the City of
Waterloo suggests that parking should be priced at a higher rate than a monthly transit
pass.
Table 4 shows that Waterloo monthly parking permits are mainly priced higher ($77 to
$146 per month) than the Grand River Transit adult transit monthly pass rate of $79.
The table also provides a comparison of municipal parking rates in comparison to their
transit rates for some of Waterloo’s comparator municipalities.
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Table 4: Transit Pass vs. Monthly Parking Permit
Comparison of Costs: Monthly Transit Pass vs. Monthly Parking Permit
Survey of Municipalities - April 2016
Municipality
Monthly
Monthly
Adult Transit
Parking Permit Parking Permit
Monthly Pass
Off-Street
Garage
Transit in
Competition with
Parking?
$
86.00
Brampton
$
120.00
$44
Burlington
$
97.00
$83 - $132
Yes, in some locations
Cambridge
$
79.00
$45 - $65
Yes
Guelph
$
80.00
$55 - $89 $
Hamilton
$
94.60
$40 - $95 $
125.00
Yes, in some locations
Kitchener
$
79.00
$151 $
175.00
London
$
81.00
$
80.00
Mississauga
$
130.00
$
65.00
No
Yes, but almost the
equivalent
Yes
Oakville
$
115.00
$
90.40
Yes
Oshawa
$
112.00
$73 - $87
Yes
Ottawa
$
127.25
$54 - $195
Yes, in some locations
Waterloo
$
79.00
Barrie
$60 - $85
$77.20 - $115.80 $
Yes
Yes
96.15 Yes, in some locations
146.41
No - most are priced
higher
Other best practices of Ontario municipalities to reduce single occupant trips, thereby
generating an associated reduction in required parking spaces, has been the adoption
of TDM policies through the urban development planning approval process. Through
the comprehensive Zoning By-law review, TDM policies will be reviewed and
considered.
Section #6 – Future Impacts on Parking
The amount of parking actually needed in UpTown Waterloo in the future will depend on
many factors including ION influences on parking demand, the potential reuse of
existing municipal parking lots for non-parking purposes, funding constraints, future
development, parking variances, the composition of City parking facilities, demographic
shifts influencing travel modes, technology and consumer price sensitivity, automobile
ownership versus car sharing, new technologies (e.g. autonomous vehicles) and
different transportation options (e.g. shared economy – similar to Uber-type services), to
name a few.
It will be important to monitor parking supply and demand annually or at minimum, every
two years, in order to determine changing parking requirements. Many municipalities
are experiencing a transitional period of urbanization that makes predicting future
parking demand challenging. It is timely for the City of Waterloo to be undertaking a
review of its Zoning By-law, which regulates the amounts of on-site parking required for
each land use. The intent of specifying on-site parking requirements is to provide
enough parking spaces based on parking demand expectations most of the time.
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Rather than owing cars, people are now increasingly participating in pay-per-use car
sharing organizations such as the non-profit Community CarShare in Waterloo Region
and private companies such as ZipCar, Car2go or Enterprise CarShare. The
implications for parking, is that car sharing is expected to result in lower vehicle
ownership levels, less total driving and corresponding reductions in the demand for
parking.
Shared parking has been in place for decades in the form of on-street parking – the
ultimate example of shared parking.
Other shared parking examples include
agreements to use private commercial office parking areas during the evening and
weekends as public parking for entertainment and shopping when commercial office
type businesses are not operating.
Changes in the shared economy similar to Uber and Airbnb type services are emerging
where individual private citizens living nearby in UpTown Waterloo may rent out unused
spaces on their property using a smartphone app.
Autonomous Vehicles (AV’s) or self-driving cars are an emerging technology which may
become readily available in the not-to-distant future. Ford, Mercedes, BMW and Tesla,
have announced AV’s will be available to the public beginning in 2020. However, public
uptake of AV’s is expected to take some time due to their initial expense to purchase as
well as the need to establish appropriate federal, provincial and municipal regulations to
protect the safety of users and safeguard against liability.
Parking lots may provide the first opportunity to realize advantages of self driving
vehicles. Passengers may be dropped close to their destination, after which the AV will
be parked automatically and more efficiently at parking facilities resulting in smaller
parking lots with narrower lanes than a typical parking lot for human driven vehicles.
Parking facilities could be converted to accommodate some AV’s optimizing space
requirements and/or future parking garages could be initially designed to use less space
for parking. Flexibility is a key parameter for municipalities to allow for adaptation to
changes in the travel, and therefore, the parking marketplace.
Section #7 – Costs of Providing Parking
Despite common thinking that parking can be provided for “free,” there are inherent
costs associated with providing parking. For new parking facilities, the cost of parking
spaces include: land acquisition, design & construction, lighting, power, signage, access
control, safety and security, fencing, landscaping and insurance. For existing parking
facilities there are ongoing maintenance costs of snow and litter removal, power
sweeping, resurfacing, landscaping, line painting, lighting and insurance as well as
marketing and promotion costs as well as enforcement costs.
Where private entities provide “free” parking, the inherent costs are passed along to the
user. For example, malls with “free” parking, the capital and operating costs are
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incurred and reflected in the tenants’ rent, which is passed on to consumers through the
price of goods and services.
Enforcement costs are increased when free time-limited parking is provided because
more frequent patrols are required. In Waterloo, parking enforcement revenue is
retained by the city’s Municipal Enforcement Division who incur operating costs for Bylaw Enforcement Officers. In some cities, parking enforcement revenue is used to
support the entire parking program and operations, including enforcement costs.
When municipalities opt to provide “free” parking, the costs must be covered from
sources other than user fees such as taxes and there isn’t the ability to build reserves to
fund future capital projects.
The table below shows the estimated capital and operating costs per space for various
types of parking facilities, excluding land acquisition costs. Land acquisition costs have
not been incorporated into this table since real estate costs vary greatly based on
location. These costs apply to Southern Ontario.
Without Land Acquisition Costs
Table 5 below shows a comparison of a select number of Ontario municipalities
highlighting the method and cost at which they provide public parking in their downtown
areas.
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Table 5: Rate Comparison
On-Street Off-Street
Municipality
Free
Free
Parking
Parking
Barrie
No
No
Garage
Free
Parking
No
Cambridge
Yes
Yes
N/A
Guelph
Yes
No
No
Hamilton
No
No
No
Waterloo
Yes
Yes
No
Kitchener
Yes
No
Brampton
No
No
No
Yes (first
hour)
On-Street
($/HR)
Off-Street
($/HR)
Garage
($/HR)
$1.25
Free
2 hrs
Free 2 hrs
(once/day)
$2.00
Free
1 to 3 hrs
N/A
$1.00
$1.00
$1.50
N/A
$2.00
$2.00
$2.00
Free
1 to 3 hrs
$2.25
$2.50
$2.00
$2.00
$2.00
$3.25
$3.30
Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo all offer free on-street and off-street parking with
varying time durations, while the other municipalities do not. For comparison purposes,
approximately 35% of the City of Waterloo’s parking supply is no charge parking,
whereas the City of Kitchener provides approximately 10% of the parking supply at no
charge and the City of Guelph provides approximately 20% of their parking supply at no
charge.
Section #8 – Parking Financial Model
In 2008, Waterloo City Council approved the UpTown Waterloo Parking Strategy, a
document created to be a strategy for the next 8-10 years including a set of guiding
principles specific to the Parking Program and a parking management/business plan
outlining recommendations on items including costs and funding sources.
One of the recommendations of the Parking Strategy was to operate parking as a
financially self-sustaining enterprise. Steps have been taken to start this shift since the
Parking Strategy was approved, but further steps are required for the city’s parking
program to be self-sustaining.
Currently, parking does not pay overhead fees (e.g. rent for office space occupied by
parking staff, time or office space of support functions such as legal, finance,
procurement etc.). The city is currently undertaking an overhead review and to be selfsustaining, parking would likely need to be paying higher overhead fees to the
Corporation. The financial model that has been created to assist with determining
future parking rates assumes that parking will start to pay overhead in 2019 as a result
of the city’s overhead review.
Parking operating and maintenance costs are currently covered by parking revenues.
Parking revenues in Waterloo are generated from permit holders and hourly rate
parkers at the Waterloo Public Library and in the UpTown Parkade. Revenue from
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these two user groups pay for parking related services including, but not limited to,
lighting, snow removal, sweeping, line painting, parking permit administration and
resurfacing of all parking lots. Parking revenues are also used to cover the costs to
operate and maintain all no charge parking lots that support local businesses. Table 6
below summarizes parking costs and revenues for 2015. The City employee TDM
program reserve transfer is set at 75% of net revenues from the City’s parking program
until 2017.
Table 6: 2015 Revenues & Expenses
2015 Actuals
Total Expenses
981,793
Total Revenues
(1,033,340)
Parking Surplus
51,547
TDM Reserve Transfer
61,839
Net Parking Deficit
(10,292)
As discussed earlier, the forecasting of future parking demand has been deferred until
forecasting can be established in conjunction with the Zoning By-law. Therefore, staff
has created a parking financial model based on a snapshot of current conditions. The
financial model is based on current permit sales, expenses and the approved capital
budget, which includes expenditures for a parking structure in 2017. The parking
growth number established in conjunction with the comprehensive Zoning By-law
Review will be used to forecast parking demand in the parking financial model and the
financial model will be updated as needed.
Table 7 shown below assumes a continued freeze in parking rates for the next 5 years.
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Projection
Projection
Projection
Projection
Projection
Total Expenses
952,268
971,469
991,056
1,011,044
1,031,441
Overhead Allocation
150,000
153,000
Capital Requirements
37,010
18,877
142,337
181,660
245,679
TDM Transfers
50,000
51,000
17,000
17,340
17,687
Total Expenses
1,039,278
1,041,346
1,150,393
1,360,044
1,447,807
Total Revenues
(1,046,777) (1,053,821) (1,061,409) (1,065,256) (1,071,090)
Surplus (Deficit)
7,499
12,475
(88,984)
(294,788)
(376,717)
New Parking
Structure:
Debt Repayment
Expenses
Revenues
Add’l Surplus
(Deficit)
Total Surplus (Deficit)
7,499
12,475
92,026
131,127
(103,974)
92,026
133,750
(232,544)
92,026
136,425
232,544)
(119,108)
(208,163)
6,768
(288,020)
4,093
(372,624)
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Table 7 was completed using 0% parking rate increase, 0% demand increase, 1.9% COLA and
2% inflation increase for non-labour expenses. New parking structure revenue based on 50%
capacity for half year in 2018 and 60% capacity for 2019 and 2020.
Table 7 shows the implementation of a new parking structure based on capital budget
approval by Council. It is important that we make a realistic assumption with regards to
the timing of a new structure, given all the other steps that need to occur. At a later
date the model will be refined to factor in growth based on the comprehensive Zoning
By-law Review and will allow for a more realistic determination of future parking facility
requirements.
With no parking rate increase and an overhead allocation contribution by parking, the
City of Waterloo will not generate enough revenue to cover parking operating and
maintenance costs beginning in 2018, one year prior to the addition of an overhead
allocation contribution in order for parking to be a self–sustaining business unit. It is
necessary to implement a reasonable parking rate increase over the next several years
in order to ensure the continued financial viability of the business unit. Without
increases, the Parking Reserve Fund balance will continue to decline to beyond the
minimum approved level.
Table 8 shows the impact of the declining contribution on the Parking Reserve Fund
balance, which has a Council approved minimum target level of $500,000.
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Projection
Projection
Projection
Projection
Projection
Parking Reservebeginning balance
958,988
814,630
827,105
618,942
330,922
Unbudgeted Capital
– CORP2016-021
(151,857)
Operating change:
Surplus (Deficit)
7,499
12,475
(208,163)
(288,020)
(372,624)
Parking Reserveending balance
814,630
827,105
618,942
330,922
(41,702)
Parking Reserve balance do not include Regional funds or contributions to employee
TDM program.
To facilitate the development of this financial model, and to support local businesses
during ION construction, parking rates have been frozen since 2014. Staff recommend
parking rates remain frozen for 2017 to continue to support the UpTown BIA through the
completion of ION construction and to continue to encourage visitors to the UpTown.
Staff will report back to Council in 2017 with an updated financial forecasting model for
consideration in setting 2018 parking fees.
The 2008 Parking Strategy identified that many of the larger under-utilized parcels of
land in the UpTown BIA that could be developed are currently being used for public
municipal parking. Should the city decide to sell these municipal parking lands for
development, staff recommend the proceeds of the land sale be directed to the Parking
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Reserve to fund the development of new parking infrastructure and/or maintenance of
existing parking infrastructure.
Section #9 – Future Parking Opportunities
Public Private Partnerships (P3’s) for the provision of public parking services are not
common in Canada. There are a few examples in the USA such as, Ohio State
University, the City of Chicago, the City of Indianapolis and the City of Harrisburg (PA),
while several other American universities and cities are in the process of considering
P3’s.
The Toronto Parking Authority (TPA), a special purpose body of the City of Toronto, has
undertaken several successful “joint venture agreements” with the private sector in
areas of Toronto where property is cost-prohibitive or scarce. The joint venture
agreement allows for increases in the local public parking supply and intensification of
land use.
Section #10 – Next Steps
Following the approval of IPPW2016-057, staff will;
•
•
•
•
•
•
Participate further in the comprehensive Zoning By-Law Review and establish
forecasting parameters related to parking.
Complete annual parking utilization studies beginning in 2018.
Request funding for annual utilization studies in 2019-2022 through future budget
processes.
Report back to Council in 2017, and annually thereafter, with updated financial
forecasting data to be used in setting parking fees for subsequent years toward
the goal of financial sustainability.
Incorporate flexibility in financial forecasting data to allow for changes in land use
which affects supply/demand and future parking facilities.
Use the information from annual parking utilization studies to evaluate the need
for additional parking facilities.
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Integrated Planning & Public Works
Appendix A