Long-term parking latest idea for jumpstarting underused park and rides

Long-term parking for vacationers and other Ottawaairport users has become the latest idea for how to pump new life into some of the city's under-utilized park and rides.

Riverside South-Findlay Creek Coun. Steve Desroches recently asked the city to report back on whether "temporary park-and-fly parking spots" could work at theLeitrim park and ride, as well as at the future park and ride at Bowesville.

In his request to the city, Desrochescited a goal of "encouraging ridership and maximizing empty parking spaces" as"some park and rides are projected to have surplus parking spaces."

"We want people to use transit. And frankly, we need the revenue to help pay for the system," Desroches told CBClast week.

Councillors have been floating ideas for months on how to boost traffic at park and rides that have struggled to return to pre-pandemic usage levels.

Their suggestions come ahead of thetouted spring 2024 reopening of theexpanded north-south Trillium Line and the launch of the newairport offshoot.

Desrocheshas alreadyproposed allowing pickleball courts at park and rides during the summer. Fellow councillor Glen Gower, the chair of Ottawa's transit commission, has said the city should also explore them as potential new housingsites.

What the city said

While Desroches's long-term parking idea presents some logistical issues, according to the city's response, and the councillor himself says the cons "probably" outweighthe pros, he'sstill keen onthe idea of relaxing rules to allow for overnight parking.

Ottawa's transit bylaw currently prohibits overnight parking at park andrides. That would need to be changed, according to the city's response, which was included in the agenda for the commission's meeting on Thursday.

Expanding hours and allowing multi-day stays at park and rides would also complicate snow-clearing efforts and potentially lead to more theft and vandalism, the city added.

Still, the city said it has explored the feasibility of allowing temporary long-term parking at the Bowesville,Leitrim and Greenboro park and rides"to promote travel to the airport by transit."

Desroches said he tested out the idea himself at Greenboro when he madean overnight trip to Toronto.

"The objective here wasn'tto compete with the airport," he said. "Really the gist of this was, are we serving our passenger needs? [And]is there any additional value that we can provide to them?"

Extending parking hours would especially help people who work overnight shifts, Desrochesadded.

"We've got some restrictions that may not be conducive [as we] become more and more of a 24/7 society," he said.

Signs of a rebound

Despite the desire to boost park and ride usage, there are some encouraging signs already, according to both Gower and the city.

"With every month that goes by since return-to-office, post-pandemic, it's getting busier and busier," Gower said of the Eagleson park and ride in west Ottawa.

In its response to Desroches, the city said that as ridership on the LRT system including the airport extension grows, "available capacity [at park and rides] will decline."

"There is already less capacity available at Greenboro Station, where use of the park and ride lot is greater," the city wrote.

Ottawa Morning3:01Long-term parking latest idea for jumpstarting underused park and rides

We need the revenue to help pay for the system,' Coun. Steve Desroches says