ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: December 21, 1995
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Parking Meter - Operations Review
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve a three year parking meter replacement
program as outlined in this report, and detailed in Appendix A
at an estimated cost of $2,728,000. Funds for this would be
provided from increased parking meter revenues of
approximately $900,000 for 1996 and $1,900,000 annually
thereafter.
B. THAT Council approve the parking meter rate changes for 1996
and 1997 as detailed in Appendix B.
C. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to bring
forward the necessary by-law changes to reflect the parking
meter rate changes.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council policy is to provide parking meters to improve street use with
the support of local businesses; set parking meter rates to reflect
market rates and require cost reductions or revenue enhancements to
offset any increased expenditures.
SUMMARY
Staff have undertaken a detailed review of the parking meter operation.
This review has looked at theft and vandalism mitigation, parking meter
equipment, and parking meter rates.
A number of initiatives are being taken to eliminate theft and vandalism
problems. These include the hiring of a loss prevention consultant who
is working actively with staff and the Police, increased Police action,
more frequent collections, and redesign of meter fasteners.
It is recommended that new electronic parking meter equipment be
purchased to replace over 1000 existing empty spaces and the 3500
remaining mechanical meters over a 3 year period. These "hardened"
meters will reduce maintenance costs, increase rate and coin
flexibility, and accept smart cards. Detailed costs are shown in
Appendix A.
Parking meter rates have been reviewed. Existing rates are generally
well below off street rates and should be adjusted to continue to
control parking for short term use. It is recommended that rates be
adjusted over a two year period, as shown in Appendix B. The additional
revenues from the meter rate changes will offset the proposed
expenditures.
Staff are also reviewing the hours of meter operations in response to
Council's recent request, and are reviewing the organizational structure
of the parking meter operations. These items will be reported to
Council early in 1996.
PURPOSE
This report recommends an accelerated meter replacement program that
will harden meters to deal with a recent and growing vandalism and theft
problem, and to provide a higher level of public convenience with
electronic mechanisms that can use prepaid smart cards. The report also
recommends rate changes in 1996 and 1997, that will offset meter
replacement costs and better reflect off- street rates.
BACKGROUND
In May 1995 Council reviewed a report about on-street parking control
equipment and approved the following:
THAT Engineering Services continue its ongoing review of on-street
parking equipment options to insure that the technology used by the
City of Vancouver provides the best value for the citizens of the
City. Currently, electronic parking meters provide the best value
with the potential for future use of debit card technologies.
THAT the General Manager of Engineering Services in Consultation
with the Director of Permits and Licenses and Director of Finance
evaluates the options for an In Vehicle Parking Meter (IVPM)
program, initially for use by commercial vehicles, and report back
to Council.
THAT a consultant be retained to assist staff in reviewing the
security of Vancouver's parking meter operations and its structure
at an estimated cost of $40,000. Funds for this work to be
provided from the Parking Meter Replacement Reserve.
On June 20,1995 Council approved the purchase of parking meters to
replace meters that had been damaged or destroyed by vandals and to
expand into newly approved metered areas.
Since then, the 800 new meters with electronic mechanisms and hard cases
have been purchased and installed in the core area of the downtown.
These meters are functioning well and add a significant degree of
security to the City's parking meter operations. They also provide the
City with the opportunity for smart card use.
Unfortunately the older mechanical parking meters have again become the
subject of vandalism and theft. These problems were minor until the job
action in 1994. Since then, the meters have been a target of many
different types of vandalism, from the removal of meters from posts, to
more recently the destruction of meters on their posts. There has also
been a growing problem with the use of keys copied from stolen meter
heads. It is currently estimated that 550 meters are missing, totalling
1028 meter spaces.
There are a number of initiatives being taken to stop vandalism against
meters. These include increased enforcement actions, more frequent coin
collections, hardening of existing meters, and the restoration of
damaged or recovered stolen equipment.
THEFT AND VANDALISM MITIGATION
Engineering and Corporate Services together with the Police Department
have developed a plan to eliminate the current loss of parking meters.
As approved by Council a loss prevention consultant has been hired and
the consultant has now recommended a number of mitigation measures which
are being implemented.
The police are working closely with the Engineering Department to deal
with the theft and vandalism. Through enforcement action a number of
arrests have been made.
Frequent collection of coins is an important element in reducing the
current problem and the level of meter collections has been increased.
The new hard meter cases and the recent improved meter head attachment
methods have been very successful in guarding against the types of theft
we are currently experiencing. Staff have also developed a system to
change and rotate locks, thus making illicit keys useless.
PARKING METER EQUIPMENT
The recent purchase and installation of electronic meters for 800 spaces
was a big step to improving the overall meter operations. These meters'
housings are much harder than most of the existing meters, and the
electronic mechanisms can accept various coins, including the new two
dollar coin being introduced early in 1996, and various rate and time
combinations. They also have the capability to be retrofitted to accept
a smart card for payment. The smart card option would provide an
increased level of convenience to the public and could significantly
reduce or eventually eliminate cash in the parking meters.
The City is now missing meters for over 1000 spaces and these need to be
replaced. Meters for 400 of these spaces have been purchased as an
extension of our previous meter tender so that crews can install them as
they retrofit and secure the existing meters.
The City has 3500 remaining mechanical parking meters and many of these
continue to be susceptible to the current problems. The actions being
taken by staff will mostly eliminate theft and damage problems; however,
it is recommended that the older mechanical meters be replaced over the
next three years with new hardened electronic meters. Two hundred of
these meters are old Duncan meters that have reached the end of their
expected life. The balance are POM meters that are 5 years old and have
another 5+ years of life. The replacement of these meters will reduce
maintenance costs, further reduce the possibility of vandalism, allow
greater coin and rate flexibility, and add smart card use.
With the purchase of more electronic parking meters the City would be in
a position to introduce a smart card option. This could be done if the
City marketed its own card or we could wait for generic cards to be
issued through financial institutions. The full scale use of these
cards is expected in 1997. In 1996 several financial institutions,
including Van City, will initiate a retail trial of a debit card that
the City could use.
Staff are continuing to examine the possible use of the In Vehicle
Parking Meter (IVPM) for commercial vehicle use and will report
separately on this option.
EQUIPMENT UPGRADES
The following equipment purchases and upgrades are recommended to
complement the recommended meter purchase and to improve the parking
meter operation to deal with the immediate problems.
Collection carts - new secure collection carts have been built and the
collectors are now using them. However, further improvements are needed
to achieve optimum use, estimated to cost $12,000.
Vehicles - The current vans need changes to accommodate the new
collection carts. These changes are estimated to cost $9,000. An
additional van is also required for a new collection crew. This van
should be leased on a temporary basis, until the current problems
subside, with an annual cost for the lease and operating expenses of
$6,000.
Field Communications - The collectors' existing radios have reached the
end of their useful life. It is recommended that they be replaced at an
estimated capital cost of $2,000.
Meter Auditor - An upgraded hand held Electronic Auditor that tests
meters, changes rates and provides audit information is required for the
City's new McKay electronic meters. The estimated cost of this
equipment is $5,000.
Computer software/inventory control - improved software is required to
enhance the City's parking meter record keeping system and expand the
existing bar coding. The cost of this equipment is estimated to be
$4,000.
METER RATE CHANGES
Council policy is that parking meter rates should reflect off- street
rates to minimize circulating traffic, and that they should be set to
provide short term parking for area visitors. A balanced rate between
parking meter rates and off-street parking rates will increase the
availability of on-street parking space, reduce long-term parking usage,
typically by employees, and reduce the traffic congestion created by
people looking for parking spaces.
Parking meter rates are generally below off-street parking rates. The
last parking meter rate changes were made by Council in June 1994 and
some meter rates have not been changed for 10 years.
It is proposed that parking meter rates be changed over the next two-
year period. The proposed rate changes are detailed in Appendix A. The
average meter rate would increase to $1.05 per hour in 1996 and $1.25
per hour in 1997 compared with the present average meter rate of $0.92
per hour. The average off-street parking rate is approximately $2.00
per hour. These rate changes are greater than inflation and will bring
rates closer to off- street rates.
CONSULTATION WITH MERCHANTS
This report has been discussed with a number of merchant groups. They
recognize the importance of meters to control parking in their business
areas. They support the move to electronic meters and are very
interested in the potential for smart card operations.
They also do not have a problem with the meter rate changes proposed in
the report.
METER OPERATION HOURS
In response to Council's recent request, Staff are reviewing the hours
of operation of meters to see if there is merit in extending their use
into the evening or to Sundays. This review will include discussions
with local business groups and will be reported to Council early in
1996.
PERSONNEL / ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES
The organizational structure of the parking meter operations is being
reviewed, and suggested improvements to this operation will be the
subject of a report to Council in early 1996.
This review will consider short term and long term staff needs, and the
consolidation of meter maintenance and collection functions.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The current vandalism and theft has a significant impact on the City's
parking meter revenues. In 1995 it is estimated that the City will have
lost approximately $500,000 primarily due to the damage caused to the
meters; 1028 meter spaces currently do not have meters. If this damage
were to continue it is estimated that the City could lose over
$1,000,000 in 1996.
The purchase of new hard meters combined with other security measures
that staff are taking are stopping the losses. The costs to provide
replacements for the vandalized meters and 3500 existing mechanical
parking meters is estimated to be $2,220,000. It is recommended that
this replacement take place over the next three years, with 1,600 new
meters purchased each year beginning in early 1996. The detailed costs
of this purchase and related expenditures are shown in Appendix A.
To fund this work it is recommended that parking meter rates be adjusted
as noted in Appendix B. The meter rate change involves the purchase and
installation of various meter parts at a total cost of $40,000 (shown in
Appendix A). These recommended rate changes are estimated to increase
parking meter revenues by approximately $900,000 in 1996 and a further
$1,000,000 in 1997.
* * * * *