Parking meters won't change until the end of the summer, says Plante
CTV
The City of Montreal has decided to pause incoming changes to paid parking until the end of the summer – Mayor Valerie Plante told reporters Wednesday her administration doesn’t want to “rush into anything.” Downtown business owners were “flabbergasted” in April to discover extended parking meter hours without notice.
The City of Montreal has decided to pause incoming changes to paid parking until the end of the summer – Mayor Valerie Plante told reporters Wednesday her administration doesn’t want to “rush into anything.”
Downtown business owners were “flabbergasted” in April to discover metered hours had been extended.
Existing rules require drivers to pay until 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
Under the newly-posted rules, the paid period would have remained until 11 p.m. six nights a week, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
The city paused those plans following public backlash. People were frustrated that they’d have to pay for longer period of time, and that the change felt as though it came without adequate warning.
On Wednesday, Plante said her administration is in consultation with business owners, and that the rules would not change until, at least, the end of the summer
“What we’re getting the most is ‘you caught us off guard,’ and that’s why the strategy was wrong, because we didn’t give them predictability,” said the mayor, recalling her conversations with merchants.
