Parking Woes for Toronto Transit Commission Commuters Special

On April 1st, 2009, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) took away a long term perk that its Metropass holders were comfortably accustomed to, free parking at TTC lots all across the city.

Long distance commuters had long been accustomed to grabbing a cup 'o joe, hopping in their car in the early morning hours for that long drive into the city, pulling up to a parking lot next to a TTC subway station, swiping their Metropass (a pay one price, unlimited pass to "ride the rocket") and park their car for free. That all changed this past April Fool's Day when the TTC revoked the long standing parking policy in favor of a new pay as you go plan. The TTC maintains parking lots at 16 of its subway stations with space for approximately 14,000 cars. They say that it costs them about $7 million a year to maintain those parking lots. Before April 1st, 2009, parking lot maintenance cost the TTC about $7 million a year, offset by $3 million collected from non-Metropass holders who paid to park. This implied there was a $4 million shortfall. Late last summer, TTC Chair Adam Giambrone posed the following question: "Why should the average TTC rider ... pay five or ten cents of their fare to subsidize the small amount of commuter parkers?" In March of this year, Mr. Giambrone reiterated the subsidization assertion by saying "About 10 cents out of every fare goes into subsidizing the parking lots." During 2008, there were approximately 466 million passenger trips taken on the TTC system. If, indeed, about .10 cents of every fare subsidized TTC's parking lots, that would translate to $46 million; or at .05 cents per ride, $23 million. As noted above, the TTC expenses approximately $7 million a year for maintenance of the parking lots. Mr. Giambrone was contacted for a comment and clarification, but as of the writing of this article, he had not responded. The new parking fees average between $4 and $6 per day. A TTC Metropass costs $109 per month and at an average of $5 per day, parking will now cost the 10,000+ Metropass parking lot users an additional $100 per month. A petition entitled "Say NO to TTC Parking Fees" was started and to date, over 6,000 had signed it. An excerpt from the site:

Eliminating Metropass parking will force more people to drive directly to their work place as this option will become more economical when factoring in the cost of parking, cost of taking the transit, commuting time, reliability and convenience. This will result in a negative impact on the environment, particularly the air quality, as well as the traffic congestion that Toronto is already experiencing. The TTC continues to advertise to draw in more riders but through this decision they will in fact be turning them away. This will result in the TTC losing money as well as the affected riders. These clients will stop purchasing a Metropass, they will discontinue use of the public transit system altogether and opt for driving directly to their destination. This truly is a NO-WIN situation!

Mike Anders is a Market Research Director with the TTC and he said that prior to April 1, 2009, approximately 80% of the TTC's parking spots were used by Metropass holders and the remaining 20% were revenue generating spots, i.e., spots paid for by non-Metropass holding riders. He also said that ridership had started to slowly decline in March of 2009, falling about 2% below budget. It is early days yet, but Anders says: "This trend has not changed significantly since April 1, when parking charges were implemented." When asked whether the number of cars parking at TTC lots since April 1, 2009 has gone up, gone down or stayed the same:

Utilization prior to April 1 was 100% at most lots. The utilization has decreased since the fees were implemented – utilization currently varies between 50% and 75%. The drop in utilization was factored into our analysis and we expect that overall utilization will increase to 80% to 85% over the next year.

The enclosed picture will attest to Anders comment regarding the drop in utilization; as you can see, this picture was taken just before noon on a workday, and it clearly shows the lot to be about half full. Anders, who is a senior staffer at TTC and was involved in the recent parking changes, said that even though TTC lots are no longer 100% full, sales of Metropasses have not dropped:

Although utilization has dropped, Metropass sales have not which indicates we have achieved another objective, that being to get riders out of their cars and to get to the subway station via some other means/mode (which includes walking, biking, “car pooling” or taking the bus).

To back up his statements, Anders provided statistics showing the estimated numbers for April 2009 Metropass sales were similar to the April 2008 figures. A final comment from Anders regarding the new parking fee structure:

The net benefit to the TTC comes from the generation of incremental revenue not cost savings. There is no significant change to the cost base or operating procedures from implementing parking charges. The lots are maintained by the Toronto Parking Authority under a management contract. The annual net benefit to the TTC from implementing parking charges is estimated to be in the range of $3M to $4M – this includes both increased parking revenue and lost fare revenue due to lower Metropass sales.

Anders makes the argument that while utilization may be down, sales of Metropasses are not. This validates the end game of the TTC, which is to get people out of their cars and onto public transit. Within walking distance of my home, there is a subway station that used to provide free parking to Metropass holders. The enclosed picture may give you an idea of how some Metropass holders may be coping with the additional burden of $900 (for April through December) the TTC has added to an already stretched 2009 pocketbook. Private parking lots similar to the one in the picture shown here are popping up in Toronto, all within walking distance of a local subway station. At this particular lot, an enterprising soul is advertising parking spots for $75 a month, which works out to be $25 less than what the TTC is charging just across the street. Assuming that the average Metropass holder uses the TTC Monday through Friday to get back and forth to work, that individual could purchase tokens for $90 and save a additional $19 off the price of a Metropass, for a total savings of $44 per month. Other parking alternatives? Recent listing from kijiji.ca the following parking spots are available in downtown Toronto: Secure parking at Sherbourne/Gerrard $100.00; 2 Outdoor parking spots at Spadina/Dundas $75.00; Outdoor parking Queen/Spadina $130.00; Indoor heated parking College/Bay $200.00. All of these options are available to drivers and all cost less (some significantly so) than the $209.00 it will now cost them to park at a local TTC lot. Parking at outdoor, Green "P" and non-municipal lots located all across downtown Toronto range from $100 per month to $175 per month. So questions to be ask are: How does this parking fee affect the average commuter? Is it worth their while to buy a Metropass and pay for parking at a total of $209 per month? Will this negatively affect the TTC via lost revenues from fares, parking and maintaining those 1/2 empty parking lots? Did the TTC think about the effect on the surrounding communities who may be bearing the brunt of the parking fee changes? How many more cars will be travelling into downtown Toronto as a result of the new fees? Time will tell whether the city will be able to fully recoup the expenditures it must put out in order to maintain the parking lots at the 16 subway stations and eventually, use any extra revenue they believe they will be able to generate to toward improving services. Time will also tell if more commuters are leaving the TTC and commuting into the city, running completely contrary to what the transit commission is trying to achieve.