While listening to CBC Radio Winnipeg recently, I heard a story regarding the potential increase of downtown parking fees. 

The “for” argument was captured with an advocate who stated that “Winnipeg needs to start acting like a big city,” and pointed out that it is not uncommon to pay four or five dollars an hour or even $20 or $30 a day to park in some of Canada’s larger urban centres. 

In larger cities, there is a distinct supply and demand relationship between downtown parking and public transit. The amount of available parking space is drastically less than what is needed to accommodate the ever-growing number of people seeking access to downtown. 

As a result, a premium price is charged for parking spaces, and those not willing to pay, or those who know they will probably never find a spot even if they were able to pay, join those without cars on public transit. 

The sheer number of people who depend on public transit in Canada’s larger cities require their municipal governments to provide fast, effective and reliable public transportation systems. Parking is a luxury, practical public transit is the norm.

The University of Winnipeg certainly exemplifies this logic, as I learned while completing a project for the U of W geography program. 

The project aimed to map the pattern of Winnipeg Transit usage generated by students traveling to the U of W. 

One hundred and forty students were asked to identify their usual mode of transportation and, if they took the bus, which routes they used. 

Half of all respondents reported public transit as their primary means of getting to school, and the map generated from the data indicated a fairly even distribution of usage across almost all of Winnipeg’s bus routes. 

This reflects the fact that students are less able to afford personal vehicles or expensive daily and monthly parking rates (or don’t want to waste time moving their cars every hour on the street). 

It also reflects the fact that students are bound by a certain necessity. Regardless whether it takes one hour and three buses, they must still make it to school.

As a whole, though, Winnipeg has a high amount of downtown parking relative to its population. Those who work and shop downtown find car use convenient. 

Indeed, increasing the cost of parking has a role to play in curbing automobile dependence and making our downtown more environmentally sustainable, but only when coupled with a strong commitment to developing a more comprehensive public transit system.

As a medium-small, low-density city, Winnipeg is faced with a public transit dilemma. Our population is spread comparatively thin over our metropolitan area, meaning that the development of a transit system that would even come close to matching the convenience of personal automobile use is a significant challenge. 

Consequently, “convenient” is the last noun used to describe Winnipeg Transit. Weekend revellers walk or cab home wondering why transit service ends an hour before the bars close.

Suburbanites in Lindenwoods or Southdale must plan their commute around buses that pass with the rarity of near-Earth comets.

If Winnipeg is going to start acting like a big city, we will need a more comprehensive public transportation system.

However, this goal requires a great deal of political will and leadership, which, as evidenced by the repeated stalling of rapid transit plans at City Hall over the last six years, our current administration lacks. 

Hiking downtown parking has to go hand-in-hand with improved public transit.

Joe Wasylycia-Leis is a fourth year human geography and politics student at the University of Winnipeg.

This is part of the Transit in Winnipeg feature. Its companion pieces are “Rapid transit on hold until phase one of BRT is completed, says councillor” by Ethan Cabel (http://uniter.ca/view/6255/) and “A more liveable Winnipeg” by Paul Hesse (http://uniter.ca/view/6256/) .

Published in Volume 65, Number 25 of The Uniter (March 31, 2011)