It will cost drivers more to park in some parts of Ottawa starting Monday, but a few other parts of the city will see a drop in rates.
The City of Ottawa says its on-street parking rates will change Aug. 12 in 11 of the city’s 20 paid parking zones. Rates will increase in seven zones and drop in four.
Parking rates will increase to $4 an hour in the following zones:
- Little Italy South (all paid parking on Preston Street south of Hwy. 417 as well as adjacent side streets – Young Street East, Aberdeen Street, Beech Street, Norman Street and Pamilla Street)
- Chinatown (all paid parking on Somerset Street West and the immediately adjacent side streets between the O-Train tracks)
- Glebe South (all paid parking along Bank Street and the immediately adjacent side streets between Holmwood Avenue and First Avenue)
- Downtown (all paid parking between Bronson Avenue and the Rideau Canal that is north of Nepean Street, including Nepean Street)
- King Edward (all paid parking on King Edward Avenue between Mann Avenue and Osgoode Street)
- ByWard Core (all paid parking in the ByWard Market and surrounding area from Rideau Street (not including Rideau Street) to Murray Street (including Murray Street) to Dalhousie Street)
Parking rates will go up to $4.50 an hour on Ruskin Street near the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, a $1 per hour increase.
The following zones will see a drop in rates:
- Holland Cross (Holland Avenue, Spencer Street and Hamilton Avenue North) will see rates drop from $1.50 to $1 an hour
- Vanier (Montreal Road, Montgomery Street and Selkirk Street) will see rates drop from $2 to $1.50 an hour
- Terminal (Terminal Avenue and Sanford Fleming Avenue) will have rates drop from $1.50 to $1 an hour
- Rideau (all paid parking on Rideau Street and immediately adjacent side streets, east of King Edward Avenue) will see parking rates drop from $1.50 to $1.
Parking costs will remain unchanged elsewhere in the city. It remains free on sections of Richmond Road, Wellington Street West, Somerset Street West, Danforth Avenue, Churchill Avenue and Holland Avenue, but a $3 per hour rate will be implemented next spring.
These changes are expected to generate $440,000 in revenue for Parking Services.
This is the first step in Ottawa’s new demand-based parking pricing system. Under the new model, there will be a single rate in each of the 20 on-street paid parking zones in Ottawa. The rates will be determined based on demand in the neighbourhood parking zones for two consecutive periods – May/June and September/October.
“This process will increase rates where demand for parking is very high to encourage turnover and create more available parking, and decrease rates where demand for parking is very low to increase demand,” the City of Ottawa says.
Ottawa currently has 3,790 on-street parking spaces across the 20 zones, with the vast majority of the spaces charging $3.50 an hour.
–With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle