Thunder Bay city administration proposes two hours of free on-street parking

Thunder Bay City Administration is hoping to learn more about parking trends in the city by enticing drivers with two hours of free parking. 

A report going to council on Monday states that since the implementation of the Parking Authority Financial Plan, overall use of the city's parking system has increased. However, there is "significant unused capacity."

And the city is unclear as to why, exactly, that is the case.

"Given the many factors that have influenced parking in recent years – including the COVID-19 pandemic, revitalization projects, shifts in consumer habits, and rate increases – it is unclear what is driving current usage patterns."

The report notes that council approved the parking financial plan on Jan. 22, 2024. The plan made several significant changes to parking in the city, including:

The changes, the report states, were met with "significant community resistance," which led to some rollbacks, including the reversal of expanded enforcement hours.

"In light of increasing community concern, Administration committed to bring an update to City Council by January 2026," the report states. "Based on the data collected to date, as well as concern from the business community and residents, Administration has accelerated its review of paid parking and is presenting a strategic shift in approach."

Keri Greaves, city treasurer and commissioner of corporate services, said the financial plan was focused on making the city's parking system pay for itself.

"While financial sustainability is still important, we also need to understand why we have paid parking, and that's to encourage turnover in high demand areas to facilitate access," he said. "That high demand isn't there, so we have a bit of misalignment between the increased parking fees, and not a strong demand to warrant that."

Ideally, the report states, there would be about 10 to 20 per cent vacancy in on-street parking areas at any given time.  For example, in a typical block with 10 parking spaces, one or two should always be available.

"This level of availability ensures that drivers can find parking without excessive circling, reducing congestion, frustration, and greenhouse gas emissions," the report states.

However, data collected to date shows that the opposite is happening, with an on-street parking utilization rate of 10 per cent or less. The data only applies to people using the app or a pay machine; people paying for parking with coins at a meter aren't included.

The suggested free parking plan would involve several steps before being approved by council and would not likely be debated before the end of the month. 

If the suggestion is eventually approved by city council, Greaves said drivers would still need to use the city's parking app, or the parking pay machines, even though the first two hours of parking would be free.