New parking initiatives considered for Regina’s downtown

REGINA – Circling the block again and again makes some people reluctant to head downtown.

Once you do find a parking spot, not having enough change is now a bigger problem – early payment on parking tickets increased in January from $10 to $20 and the City has doubled their parking enforcement. The intention is to discourage workers downtown from staying parked at meters all day.

“That will free the on-street spots for the folks who are coming down to see their lawyer, or go to a restaurant or get their hair done,” said Judith Veresuk, executive director of the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District.

The City of Regina is looking at more innovations too.

“We’ve already purchased 53 smart meters and we intend to install them in the bus lanes on 11th ave,” said  Kelly Scherr, director of construction and compliance at the City of Regina.

Those will be installed later this year and take credit cards.

Another option Regina Downtown would like to see is phone-in payment, where people can call parking services with their cell phone, give an account number and say how long they need to park. They can also call back and ask for more time without having to go outside to plug the meter. The technology has been used in other cities and is something Regina is considering as part of a downtown parking study in June.

“Pending some deliberation by council and future budget approvals, we’re really open to ways of making parking work a little more easily downtown. We know people don’t carry cash like they used to,” said Scherr.

Improving the existing parking system currently seems to be more important than adding stalls.

“I think there is enough parking downtown for now,” said Veresuk.