Banff residents seem to be divided on the controversial issue of paid parking, though younger residents are more likely to be supportive.
That’s according to results of a resident satisfaction survey Ipsos did for the Town of Banff, which showed 57 per cent said yes to user pay parking in select locations during Banff’s busiest times, while 42 per cent said no.
Jamie Duncan, vice-president of Ipsos, who worked with administration to measure public attitudes and opinions toward the introduction of paid parking in Banff, said the survey shows the community is divided on paid parking.
“This is one where there’s not a strong overwhelming majority, where people say yes to it,” said Duncan.
“We have some difference by age categories, where we have younger residents more likely to say yes, versus those who are over the age of 55 who are more likely to say no.”
In a random telephone survey, Ipsos called residents via land and cell lines between March 21 and April 4 and, once it completed 350 calls, had the correct sample size to analyze the data.
The 350 sample size gives a plus or minus five percentage points, which means 19 times out of 20 the answer would have been the same if Ipsos had called every single resident.
Survey results showed a clear message that residents want the Town of Banff to take additional steps to manage the town’s parking overall – 93 per cent said yes while seven per cent indicated enough was being done.
If implemented, residents were asked if paid parking should be limited to the downtown core. Almost three quarters of residents said yes, with the remaining residents in opposition.
Residents were also asked whether the Town of Banff should direct all user pay parking revenue, if such a program was implemented, to transit and parking infrastructure – 82 per cent yes, 15 per cent no, three per cent didn’t know.
There was also a question as to whether residents would support a cost of between $2-3 per hour if user pay parking goes ahead. While 63 per cent said yes, 33 per cent indicated no.
Alanna Pettigrew, a spokesperson for Banff Residents Against Paid Parking (BRAPP), said members are disappointed the questions of the survey about paid parking were misleading and did not offer a clear yes or no on the public view.
“When the town asks whether pay parking should only be downtown, or how much to charge, they are indicating that is a done deal,” she said.
“It’s like putting the cart in front of the horse. BRAPP members were expecting that the plebiscite would be held first, before any such surveys.”
Councillor Stavros Karlos, who has been a vocal supporter of paid parking as a way to get more vehicles off Banff roads, said there appears to be an inter-generational battle over vehicle ownership in Banff and across the country.
“The majority under the age of 55 think we can do a better job of how we utilize our streets, and that bending over backwards to have inanimate objects that spew carbon may not be the best choice for a liveable community in the future,” he said.
“That was a real eye-opener.”
Mayor Karen Sorensen said asking questions on user pay parking as part of the resident satisfaction survey has been helpful.
“It has been grounding around what question or questions could possibly be asked at the time of the vote of the electorate,” she said.
“I was quite interested in the demographics and the variances in answers based on those demographics. It was an interesting takeaway.”
In 1999, the council of the day supported implementing user-pay parking on a one-year trial basis, but the issue was shot down the following year in a plebiscite – with 263 residents for paid parking and 1,138 against.
In the summer of 2014, the Town conducted a user pay parking trial for two months in five lots in the downtown core, all located on Bear Street and Beaver Street.
According to a study done by Vinci Park at the time, the user pay parking lots were well used at peak times and when adjacent free stalls were not available, user pay parking in these lots had the effect of providing downtown parking capacity at peak times.
The trial officially ended Sept. 29 that year when residents who opposed paid parking put forward a petition. Council said there would be a plebiscite on the controversial issue at the same time as the October 2017 municipal election.
