A new study, commissioned by four city councillors, suggests raising the price of downtown parking would be the most cost-effective way to reduce traffic congestion in the core of the city.
Councillors David Chernushenko, Jeff Leiper, Catherine McKenney and Tobi Nussbaum paid for the study through their office budgets. Chernushenko tells CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon he spent $8,000. Responding by email, Leiper says his office paid roughly $5,000 and McKenney estimates her office paid $3,000. Nussbaum had not replied to a request for comment by the time this article was published. He replied by email Thursday to say his office chipped in $8,000.
The study by CPCS looked at four main options for reducing traffic volume downtown and encouraging transit ridership. The options were putting a toll on the Queensway; placing a “cordon” around the downtown core and charging drivers who enter the area; increasing downtown parking rates; and raising the gas tax.
The study actually found that a cordon charge – similar to charges in places like London and Singapore – would best accomplish the stated goals of reducing congestion and encouraging drivers to consider public transit instead, but would be costly to implement. Tolls on the Queensway would be simple to implement, but would not affect drivers traveling on arterial routes, and might even cause further congestion on those roads. The gas tax is out of the hands of the City to change.
Speaking on Ottawa Now Chernushenko echoed the study’s findings on tolling the 417 and the 174.
“The conclusion was it would be easy to do, but you only capture a small part of the traffic,” he says. “There would be all sorts of people coming north, south, and across the bridges. It would be unfair just to hit that one group.”
Chernushenko says an increase to downtown parking rates could follow a model similar to the city of San Francisco.
“San Francisco has something where they have variable rates where they only charge the higher rate when parking is in high demand, and they drop it when it’s not.”
The study points out that a cordon charge may be more feasible in the future if the cost to implement it decreases. Currently, the study estimates creating a cordon would cost the City $40 million per year.