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Originally Posted by Clarkey
Will you pay if they charge $5, $10, $20??
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If they charge $20 the math is pretty easy to know it's now about the same price to park downtown. You have to take into account the gas savings, and also the fact you could... I don't know... take a feeder bus which is the entire purpose of these charges. They are hoping one day they can redevelop the lots into something more useful like TODs.
The beauty of Calgary is they can charge $20 and people will have to pay it as downtown parking is nearly full every day anyway.
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It's easy to brush off the $3 bucks a day if you are a dink cube dweller type with a pinky ring and matching pocket protector. For a lot of people an extra $600-700 a year adds up.
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If you can't afford the $600-$700 a year, take the bus and face a few more minutes on your commute.
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I'm pretty sure they don't have to build extra freeways to lead into Dalhousie and Somerset. The reality is that you'll have to spend more on roads if you've got more people driving because the city creates a disincentive to take the train.
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An average freeway lane can carry 1500-2000 cars per hour. The Northwest leg of the LRT has ~2800 parking spots. The South leg has ~5100 stalls.
For the Northwest a majority of those cars are traveling on Crowchild trail, so that is easily over a thousand cars per day on Crowchild that wouldn't be there if people took feeder buses to the LRT.
People won't be driving downtown for financial reasons because of the $3 parking. I used to park downtown every day, and good freaking luck finding monthly parking for anything near the price of transit fares plus $3 a day parking.
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If anything they should charge for the lots close to the core and charge more for taking the train at the stops furthest from the core.
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I think it would make sense for parking to cost more at the stations closer to downtown. The land is more valuable, and usually the bus services are better in these areas. Charging more for longer trips makes sense too, but would complicate the system a bit and require new equipment/ticketing systems. I'm sure it will happen one day though.
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How come people who are in favor of this haven't commented on my suggestion of putting toll booths at Prince's Island Park???
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If you can't see how that idea is absurd on your own I can't help you.