Item - 2020.GL19.9

The General Government and Licensing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council receive the report (October 20, 2020) from the Acting President, Toronto Parking Authority.

As part of its mandate to provide short-term parking (those parking for less than 3 hours), Toronto Parking Authority carries out a comprehensive annual review of the parking rates at all of its off-street parking facilities. Providing short-term parking supports Toronto’s neighbourhood retail and commercial sector as well as the City’s transportation network by discouraging commuter behaviour.  Establishing the appropriate parking rate structure is key in allowing Toronto Parking Authority to effectively manage use, serve the target market, and fairly allocate and encourage turnover of public parking spaces.

2020 has been a year significantly influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Wide-spread impacts to the retail and commercial sectors, the decentralization of the workplace and changing trends in commuter behaviour have all had far-reaching impacts on the demand for parking at Toronto Parking Authority’s car parks. Given the atypical conditions experienced, Toronto Parking Authority is not recommending any adjustments to the rates at its off-street parking facilities at this time. Toronto Parking Authority will continue to monitor parking activity and will further assess the impact of parking rates on parking demands through the remainder of the year and 2021.

This report provides an overview of the 2020 annual rate review of Toronto Parking Authority’s off-street parking facilities and summarizes the trends found across the portfolio. Toronto Parking Authority Board approval is also requested to establish monthly rates at 73 facilities where no monthly rates currently exist. The establishment of these rates will provide Toronto Parking Authority greater flexibility to consider short-term permit arrangements when needed by other City Divisions, Agencies and Corporations for special projects, events and mitigation of impacts related to construction projects.

This report also responds to the request from Toronto City Council for Toronto Parking Authority to include a Parking Market Analysis as part of its annual Budget Submission.  The purpose of the analysis is to review the effect that rate changes have had in terms of usage levels and parking revenue as well as calculating the price elasticity associated with changes to rates. While the Parking Market Analysis required as part of the 2021 budget process would have assessed the impact of rate adjustments implemented as part of the 2019 off-street rate review, there is insufficient information to assess the impact of these rate changes, which were implemented in February of 2020 just before the Covid-19 pandemic began. A further Parking Market Analysis will be carried out and considered as part of the 2022 budget process.