By Pepper Parr
December 2, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
More about parking in the city.
The city had a Free P parking program that worked quite well for a number of years – but then it began to be abused so the merchants who paid for that program asked the city to cancel it – which the city did.
Ah – those were the days.
The Free P program always started on the first of December.
This year there is going to be what Mayor Meed Ward called Free P Lite.
When you pay for your parking starting December 1st – you will automatically get an additional 90 minutes added to the time you bought – and you can buy as little as 25 cents worth of parking.
This will apply to parking in a municipal lot or street parking spot in downtown Burlington.
Described as a pilot program – it allowed for the changing of a temporary amendment to the Parking By-law. The program will run until April 20, 2021.
The initiative is supported by the Burlington Downtown Business Association to encourage residents to visit retailers in Downtown Burlington, to support small businesses during these unprecedented times.
How to get the bonus 90 minutes of parking:
1. Park in an on-street spot or in any municipal parking lot
2. Pay for parking at machine or using HonkMobile app. The minimum payment is $0.25.
3. An additional 90 bonus minutes will be added to the time you pay for
4. If your time expires, including the additional 90 bonus minutes and you wish to stay longer to shop or eat, you can extend your time by paying for more parking using HonkMobile app, credit, or inserting more money into the machine, up to three hours on street and all day in lots.
This is an app that is worth looking into. If you use it to its full extent you could park downtown all day for 25 cents
Pay Parking Options
1. Honk Mobile
Residents and visitors can use the Honk Mobile app to search, pay for, and top-up parking payments directly from their smartphone, tablet or computer.
The Honk Mobile app can be downloaded from the App Store or the Google Play store using any internet connected device. Users are required to sign up for an account and pay a transaction fee of $0.35 for each payment.
Users can request a notification from the app for when their time is about to expire.
2. Updated Parking Machines – Pay-By-Plate
The pay-by-plate machines offer users a variety of advantages, including the ability to:
Pay by coin ($2, $1, $0.25), credit or online;
Park at various locations throughout the downtown when there is remaining paid time on a ticket;
Add time to parking purchases remotely using the HonkMobile app ($0.35 transaction fee applies);
Choose the option of a printed receipt. Every payment is linked with a license plate number – dashboard tickets are not required;
Renew monthly parking permits in-person or by phone at 905-335-7600.
Parking in downtown Burlington is free weekdays after 6 p.m., weekends and holidays with the exception of the Waterfront parking lots at Spencer Smith Park.
For more information about parking downtown, visit burlington.ca/parking.
Then ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and BDBA Executive Director Brian Dean doing something ceremonial with an old style parking meter
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said in a prepared statement that: “Businesses have asked for some relief beginning with the December holiday shopping season, especially since the removal of December Free P, 90 minutes free will assist. By extending the program until April, we’ll be able to get appropriate data and public input to evaluate the success of the program and make any changes at that time.”
Brian Dean, Executive Director, Burlington Downtown Business Association: “The Burlington Downtown Business Association and its small business community membership welcome this pilot program featuring the waiving of fees downtown for 90 minutes. We support opportunities designed to give our downtown merchants and restaurateurs a competitive edge during these uncertain economic times. Our fervent belief is that this fundamental change to parking operations until April 2021 will re-inspire consumer confidence in our small businesses.
We encourage our patrons to use this opportunity to make multiple purchases throughout the Downtown with the knowledge that we’ve added ninety minutes of bonus time to your small purchase of parking. Our doors are open, there has never been a better time to shop local and our Downtown entrepreneurs want to remain your first choice for unique goods and services into the New Year.”
That’s part 1 of the story.
Part 2 is very interesting – this program could cost the city a bundle. We will get that up tomorrow.
