Too bad the Western world is so set on getting places by vehicular conveyance.
Cars, trucks, vans, SUVs and RVs seem to be so much a necessity of life, and are for most people, yet they do cause us all problems.
But vehicle usage is so entrenched in the Western way of life that there’s no going back, obviously. While mass transit has caught on somewhat in large metropolitan areas, smaller centres remain reliant on vehicles.
Banff, for example, is a small community which attracts a much larger community of visitors and tourists, which means the mountain town is often flooded with the vehicles of those who arrive as “rubber tire traffic” to take part in its delights. This will be a growing problem as more and more large-scale special events are OKed.
The trouble is, while life in the Bow Valley requires vehicles, those same vehicles present growing challenges. The same vehicles that bring in much sought after tourists also clog streets and parking areas.
Worse yet, many people in vehicles endeavour to park within spitting distance of whatever venue, shop, facility or attraction they’ve set their sights on. No wonder then, that a Banff study shows that on busy days, 30 per cent of the vehicles moving through town are simply trolling for a parking space. That’s one-third of all vehicles in town at a given time circling around and around – idling, burning fuel, adding to greenhouse emissions, creating some degree of gridlock – to ensure as little distance as possible needs to be covered on foot.
Banff in particular, being that its boundaries are set by law, will need to come up with some very creative solutions to traffic congestion. Some of these solutions will not be popular.
The idea of paid parking was tossed aside by Banff residents in a plebiscite in 2000, but, more than a decade later, the possibility is being broached once more.
Already, though, the Outlook has received its first letter in opposition to paid parking, with its writer stating another fee for Banff visitors, on top of Parks pass and facility fees and generally high prices, would simply be too much, resulting in the possibility of reduced “visitor experience” and thus reduced visitation and lost revenue for the business community.
That will remain a popular view.
Trouble is, when employees or others can grab a free parking spot early and leave their vehicle in place for the remainder of a day, parking spot trolling begins in earnest.
When all the spots in close proximity to shops and services are then claimed, drivers will move into residential areas to park, given no other choice. This then, will create angst among residents accustomed to parking in front of their own home, if need be. Short of moving to a residential parking sticker program, this will remain a problem.
On the other hand, for Banff residents and business people who believe paid parking will cause loss of visitation and revenue because of added costs, is the idea of spending $13 million dollars on another parkade on Town-owned land on Wolf Street any more palatable?
If you can’t build out, the only other option for creating more parking spaces is likely to build up…
Yes, a second parkade would keep many vehicles (though not RVs and vehicles pulling trailers) a little ways out of the downtown core, but at a huge cost. The good thing about a new Wolf Street parkade is that it would be close enough to the core to possibly encourage at least some vehicle owners to use shoes to get around town.
Council’s May 13 meeting, when it will discuss the transportation master plan should be a lively one.
