The City of Vancouver will discuss potential changes to city-wide parking meters at an upcoming council meeting on Nov. 13.

Council will attempt to modernize the parking meter system while cutting back on linked greenhouse gas emissions, congestion, and improving safety. Depending on the area, that could mean rates would go up, or down.

The main goal of the recommendation is to free up more curbside parking spaces by increasing rates in busy areas. In quieter locations, meter rates could fall. Prices could also fluctuate between daytime and evenings.

The proposal would also give council the power to adjust meter rates annually based on data collected through the meters. According to the city’s Engineering Services, this would update prices in areas seeing more traffic or development year-over-year.

Rates for the approximately 10,000 metered parking spaces in Vancouver are currently set between $1 and $6 per hour, based on location, and are in effect between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. each day.

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While peak-period demand figures for parking spaces are collected each year, the proposal states there have been no changes to rates since 2012. It claims this has caused drivers to spend an unnecessary amount of time searching for parking, which in turn causes safety risks, congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

Staff are recommending parking rates be adjusted on a regular basis to achieve the targeted curbside occupancy of 85 per cent. That would mean there would be one or two free spaces per block at any given time.

To achieve this, more parking meters could be installed and meters could run based on daytime – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – and evening – 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. – pricing.

In areas where the curbside occupancy rate is over 85 per cent, the city would raise prices by $1 per hour. In places where the occupancy rate is lower than 60 per cent, prices would fall by $1 per hour.

It also suggests lowering the discount applied to parking tickets paid early from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. This could raise annual revenues by $1.4 million to $2 million.

View current metered parking rates across Vancouver:

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