BANFF – The Town of Banff has temporarily put the brakes on the possibility of hiking visitor paid parking fees.
At a council meeting on Monday (Oct. 24), council put off a decision on increasing visitor paid parking fees until service review and pending a discussion on the reserve policy, which dictates where visitor paid parking revenues go.
Council did, however, direct administration to come back with a report before the end of the year addressing the feasibility of a free parking pass for all Indigenous people parking in town.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said she believes Parks Canada has a similar type of pass for Indigenous people entering Banff National Park.
“Every meeting since June we’ve done a land acknowledgment and this to me is a small way to put that land acknowledgment into practice. This would demonstrate our commitment to reconciliation and this is a sign of the gratitude to the folks whose territory we reside on,” she said.
“I fully acknowledge that the ongoing process of Colonialism impacts Banff, but we are striving to understand how we can reframe our every day thinking and journey towards reconciliation and I see this as a small, small, small way to be able to take that step forward together.”
Coun. Ted Christensen was the lone voice of opposition.
“I am not comfortable supporting this motion at this time because a free parking pass is too big a term and a word with too many unknowns,” he said.
“I can appreciate the intention, I can appreciate the initiative, but I can’t support the motion.”
The issue of introducing visitor paid parking in the Bear Street Parkade and on Bow Avenue may come up again. It has potential to encourage people to take transit or park at the intercept lot and raise about $500,000 a year in revenue on Bow Avenue and about $800,000 a year in the parkade.
However, overall, council indicated no desire to expand visitor paid parking to the south side of the Bow River to places like Bow Falls, Banff recreation grounds and Spray Avenue – based on strong opposition from nearby businesses and surveys that indicated there wasn’t a parking problem.
Council also heard it may not create the desired mode shift they were wanting and that it may become a barrier to recreation and a cultural barrier to the Banff Trading Post and the Luxton Buffalo Nation Museum.
Coun. Barb Pelham initially raised the idea of exploring the feasibility of expansion of paid parking on the south side of the river based on feedback she heard on the campaign trail during the 2021 municipal election.
“I felt like it was an opportunity to dissuade people from driving across the bridge, reduce traffic, and I was really worried about people taking advantage of accessible free parking… I stand evolved,” she said.
“I am willing to shake that idea of exploring it at this time, and down the road if we realize that we have a problem that needs to be addressed, then let’s address it at that time.”
Town of Banff officials say the visitor pay parking system is currently achieving some of the goals of encouraging intercept parking and mode shift. However, the system is falling short of targets on managing parking occupancy – most lots are full at peak times.
Adrian Field, the director of engineering for the Town of Banff, said an increase in rate may help to increase stall turnover and to encourage visitors to leave their vehicles at their accommodation, thereby reducing congestion caused by vehicles circling to find parking.
“The metric of only six per cent of parkers choosing to extend time indicates that many visitors may be purchasing parking for longer periods than they actually stay – rather than needing to extend time – and therefore that they may be willing to pay more to park,” he said.
Based on existing parking rates of $3/hr in summer and $2/hr in winter, net revenue is currently estimated to be almost $1,589,329 in 2022, $2,101,012 in 2023, $2,139,957 in 2024 and $2,177,548 in 2025.
Depending on the rate increase council may choose to go with, additional annual revenues of between $500,000 and $3.5 million may be generated.
By comparison to Banff’s existing parking rates, Vail, Colorado ($13-$40 CAD/hr); Aspen, Colorado ($7.80 CAD/hr); downtown Calgary ($10-12/hr); Lake Louise lakeshore ($12.25/day); Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario ($4.75/hr) and Calgary Zoo ($3.50/hr).
Similar or lower parking rates than Banff are charged in Canmore, Sylvan Lake and Jasper.
The Town of Banff’s parking rates are also considerably lower than rates in the Cascade Plaza and at Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, which charge $7/hr and $13/h respectively.
DiManno is open to increasing visitor paid parking fees, but said she believes it is part of a bigger conversation around the paid parking reserve policy and what the parking fee revenues go towards.
“We want to be really clear about where the funds would be going if were to increase the rate, and that of course we know makes it easier to communicate and, frankly, defend when we do that,” she said.
For DiManno, there is also a bigger consideration around her bid to investigate free regional Roam transit between Banff and Canmore and Banff and Lake Louise for Banff residents.
She pointed to a statistic that showed Banff has about 450 daily commuters arrive in town between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. to work.
“I know we have had that stat in the past, but reading it again sure blew my hair back,” she said.
“If we can get commuters onto Roam, and maybe if we do move to pay parking in the parkade or Bow Avenue, that’s what helps fund that entire system.”
Christensen voiced support for an overall increase in parking rates, cautioning people against calling it a cash grab.
“We’re managing traffic, managing parking and our costs are increasing,” he said. “I think an increase in rates is justified by the increase in costs.”
Coun. Hugh Pettigrew was unsuccessful in his attempt to investigate a better parking fee deal, such as a daily rate, for Bow Valley residents outside of Banff.
