BANFF – The Town of Banff may hike visitor paid parking fees to go towards future transportation initiatives.
Banff town council will be presented with a report from administration at Monday’s (Oct. 24) meeting that recommends council consider a fee increase to visitor paid parking fees – currently $3 an hour in summer and $2 an hour in winter.
There is no administrative recommendation 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 local businesses and organizations – but that decision ultimately rests with council.
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.
“An increase in rate may help to increase stall turnover and/or encourage visitors to leave their vehicles at their accommodation, thereby reducing congestion caused by vehicles circling to find parking,” states a staff report going to council on Monday.
“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.”
In March this year, council directed administration to monitor and collect parking data in anticipation of potential fee increases, as well as survey south-side parking lots and consult directly with businesses that may be impacted by introducing paid parking near several of those sites.
Based on existing rates for paid parking, 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.
Town staff are presenting different fee hike options for council’s consideration, which could see additional annual revenues from a low $500,000 to $3.5 million – based on as low as a $4 an hour fee in winter to as high as a $10 an hour rate in summer.
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 rates for the VPP (visitor paid parking) system are considerably lower than rates in the Cascade Plaza and at the Banff Springs Hotel,” states the administrative report, stating they charge $7/hr and $13/h respectively.
“The rates are also lower than in downtown Calgary and Lake Louise Lakeshore, which is $6.10/hour based on a two-hour hour average stay for the $12.25 day rate. They are similar or higher than other communities with visitor populations in B.C..”
As for expansion of paid parking to the south side, administration surveyed several businesses and operations, including the Banff Trail Riders, Banff Trading Post, the Luxton Buffalo Nation Museum, the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and Rocky Mountain Raft Tours.
The staff report said the organizations invited to provide feedback generally opposed the concept of expanding visitor pay parking to the south side locations.
“100 per cent of the participants said they oppose expanding the current pay parking system to the locations closest to their operations,” states the report.
“Based on this feedback, further consultation with other people who would be affected by the expansion of pay parking is not recommended.”
