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CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Date: |
November 16, 2004 | |
Author: |
R. Birch | |
Phone No.: |
604-873-7292 | |
RTS No.: |
RTS 04644 | |
CC File No.: |
1753 | |
Meeting Date: |
November 30, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
General Manager of Engineering Services |
SUBJECT: |
Evaluation of Universal Accessibility at City's Off-Street Parking Facilities |
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve an increase of the 2004 Capital Budget for the Parking Corporation of Vancouver (EasyPark) in the amount of $32,600 to fund an evaluation of accessibility issues at City-owned off-street parking facilities, as described in this report. Source of funds to be the Parking Site Reserve.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS that Council approve the foregoing recommendation.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council approves the allocation of funding from the Parking Sites Reserve.
PURPOSE
This report seeks Council's approval to fund a research project to evaluate accessibility issues at various City off-street parking facilities.
BACKGROUND
When receiving the General Manager of Engineering Service's report on the EasyPark Operating Budget, on April 8, 2004, Council received a delegation from Mr. Paul Tubbe, Chair, Advisory Committee on Disability Issues. Mr. Tubbe proposed that the City, through its parking corporation (EasyPark) should become a model of excellence for accessibility for the 2006 United Nations World Urban Forum and the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. At that time, City staff committed to work with the Advisory Committee to explore ways which this vision could be realized, noting that such work could provide valuable information for the development of future EasyPark Capital Budgets.
DISCUSSION
Since the April 8, 2004 meeting, staff have met with Mr. Tubbe on several occasions, and have received a research proposal from Dr. James Watzke, Associate Director of the BCIT Health Technology Research Group which was facilitated by Mr. Tubbe.
The proposal involves three elements:
1. Focus groups which engage participants who are representative of persons with disabilities.
2. Literature searches and other research to determine best industry practices
3. Evaluation of a representative sample of between 3 and 6 EasyPark facilities, using a recently-developed assessment checklist.
This proposal has been reviewed with, and is supported by, EasyPark management. Under the Management Agreement between the City and EasyPark, Council has the authority to approve EasyPark's Capital Budget. Since the proposed work involves an investigation into City assets under the management of EasyPark, the EasyPark Capital Budget is an appropriate source of funding.
Staff believe that the proposal referenced above represents an opportunity to access state of the art research. The accessibility checklist which will be used and evaluated by the researchers leverages prior work done by the BCIT Health Technology Research Group for the University of Manitoba. The research will be conducted by experienced and capable personnel. Proposed charge-out rates are in accordance with the Research Group's schedule for "non-profit" organizations and are reasonable.
In the short term, it is expected that the work will provide useful information as to the validation of the research tool, and will identify potential new projects for EasyPark to consider adding to its Capital Budget. In the longer term, this work has the potential of establishing EasyPark as a model organization which incorporates accessible design concepts into the facilities which it operates. These concepts would be of interest and could potentially have application throughout the entire parking industry.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The estimated cost of this work as outlined in the proposal is $32,580. Funding for this work can be provided from the Parking Site Reserve.
CONCLUSION
The proposal received from Dr. James Watzke of the BCIT Health Technology Research Group represents an opportunity to apply current research to the evaluation of accessibility issues at EasyPark facilities at a reasonable cost. It is recommended that the proposal be accepted.
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