ROTHENBURGER – How are you liking those downtown parking rates now?

HOW DO YOU LIKE parking in downtown Kamloops these days? You’ve probably noticed you’re paying more than you used to.

As of June 1, and as part of a long-term plan, both on-street rates and fines have increased substantially. The rate for the first two hours is now $1.50 per hour, which doubles to $3 for the third (and maximum) hour. That’s up from $1.25 and $2.50.

Enforcement now runs from 8 a.m. (instead of 9 a.m.) to 6 p.m. Fines for parking too long have soared all the way to $80 (or $40 if paid within 24 hours) from the previous $40 and $10. Whether or not we agree with these changes, there’s some logic at work.

Supposedly, parking rates and fines are an incentive to keep people from parking in one space for too long. Force them via their wallets to move along, and a spot opens up for someone else.

Regardless of that philosophy, these increases will not endear City Hall to taxpayers who felt they were already paying enough. But let’s consider the bright side — the new parking rates would have gone into effect more than a dozen years ago if City council had had its way. That was around the time those awful kiosks replaced the old meters.

So why the delay? It’s been more than simple procrastination; it’s been fear around the council table of the political consequences.

At various times, the new rates have been favored but then kicked down the road for another day to let some future council deal with them. Meanwhile, the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association has flip flopped as the mood suits.

All the while, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on various iterations of parking-needs studies. Finally, after the past year spent working up the gumption to jack up the rates, the current council took the plunge at administration’s behest.

Coun. Mike O’Reilly, including back when he was heading up the KCBIA, once argued against raising the parking rates, saying lower rates would help attract more shoppers downtown. Big increases, he said, “didn’t make sense.” Indeed, he convinced council a few years ago to hold the line on rates.

Coun. Nancy Bepple has always held a different view — making it more expensive to park downtown will encourage people to cycle, walk or take the bus, she believes.

I’m not aware of any empirical evidence for either argument but it’s true that various studies have shown increasing rates and fines does encourage drivers not to overstay.

It’s all about cost-benefit analysis on the part of vehicle owners. Is it cheaper to “plug the meter” or to hope they don’t get caught often enough to make fines unbearable.

Although on-street and off-street parking charges and fines bring in some big money, City administration says costs are exceeding revenue. Maybe the new kiosks, a new app and the knowledge that these higher rates could have come a lot sooner, will keep people shopping downtown.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and former school board chair, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website. This column also appears in the June edition of the Kamloops Chronicle.