Commuters will be paying less but may have more difficulty finding a parking spot following council’s decision to axe the park and ride fee.
Ald. Brian Pincott said council’s decision to replace the fee with a “reserved parking system” is throwing something out without having a backup plan. “The argument that was made about Park and Ride being an experiment with no research behind it is exactly the same argument that could be made for what council did just approve,” he said.
“Rather than just declaring something a failure after a year, we should actually have a look at whether it can be made better.”
On the other hand, LRT user Margaret Cuthbertson said losing the fee will save her time and money.
“It saves a couple minutes, it saves hunting for change because I don’t want to use a credit card,” she said, adding she’s been using the Franklin LRT since it opened in 1985. “I would be very happy to see it gone.”
Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who campaigned heavily to drop the fee said it’s a step in the right direction.
“I’m very happy that council saw the light” he said. “We’ve redressed something that needed redressing and I’m really happy we’ve done it.”
