New Program To Encourage High Standards of Parking Downtown

DOWNTOWN WINNIPEG—The pleasure of a clean, well-lit and easy-to-navigate parking lot is perhaps underrated. The fact is, when most people leave their parked car, they want to focus on their reason for coming downtown—not worry about the car they left behind.

A new parking standards program aiming to create higher standards for parking operators was unveiled by the Downtown BIZ today. The BIZ kicked off the Gold Star Standard Parking Program by presenting the first parking facilities to achieve the Gold Star Standard: the FNP-run parkade below Portage Place, owned by The Forks North Portage, and the Winnipeg Parking Authority operated surface parking lots at Stradbrook & Osborne, 457 Main, Alexander Docks, Garry Street & Assiniboine Avenue, and Paulin Street & Ross Avenue.

"Our goal is to encourage parking operators to create cleaner and safer facilities, ultimately improving the experience of downtown visitors," says Stefano Grande, Downtown BIZ executive director. "Getting surface lots in particular up to livability by-law and even Gold Star standards will be an improvement, but our real desire is to see surface lots developed in the long-run."

Key to achieving the standard are improvements made to security, lighting, cleanliness, maintenance, signage, staff training and enforcement.

Signs have gone up on the first Gold Star parkade: FNP Parking's Portage Place parking facility. The 1000-stall, two-level parkade has made numerous improvements over the past few years, including investing in new lighting, inserting windows into stairwell doors, having the pillars repainted, as well as various green initiatives such as pay-on-foot parking paystations, which reduce emissions from idling vehicles that would otherwise be waiting to pay an attendant. While patrons pay on foot, there are still parking staff on-hand in the parkade to deal immediately with any questions or concerns. FNP also hires the Downtown BIZ's Watch Bike Patrol to circulate throughout the parkade as an additional safety measure.

"We have worked hard to make the changes to ensure the customer has a positive experience in our parkades, and by extension in our downtown," says Darren Downey, General Manager of FNP Parking. “This gold standard sets us apart from our competitors and we hope this sets the bar for others to follow.”

As part of the program, parking facilities achieving the Gold Star Standard in parking will receive signs with a prominent gold star to put up at their parking lot entrances stating they are a "Cleaner and Safer Parking Facility." Decals will also be placed throughout the facility.

The standards were carefully reviewed to be reasonable regardless of size, location, availability of operating capital or regulatory issues imposed by outside organizations, while providing for a high quality parking experience.

"We worked hard to make this program appealing and accessible to parking operators in the hopes that many will see the value of being part of the program. We truly believe that people feeling more comfortable leaving their cars in a parking facility will lead to more customers—it just makes good business sense," says Grande.

The Downtown BIZ's criteria is based on the national guidelines identified in the Canadian Parking Association's "Parking Facility Standards Award." Gold Star Standard parking facilities will also be noted in the Downtown BIZ's parking brochure and website.

Other downtown parkades now pursuing the Gold Star Standard include The Radisson Downtown Winnipeg Hotel, Winnipeg Square Parkade and the Winnipeg Convention Centre parkade. In the final stages of recertifying to the Canadian Parking Association’s “Parking Facility Standards Award”, the City’s Millennium Library Parkade will also receive the Gold Star Standard once that process is completed.

Applicants can be anyone who owns or operates one or more Downtown Winnipeg parking facilities, either public or private. The fee ranges from $500 to $1000 and includes an independent inspector and production of interior and exterior signage. The first five parking lots to apply will receive a 50% discount. The application form and inspection criteria are available on the Downtown BIZ website at: www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/home/business/goldstar

This summer the Downtown BIZ and City of Winnipeg are also assessing surface parking lots downtown. This report will be used to educate parking lot owners and operators to make improvements to their facilities in order to meet the by-law standards. There are 33 parkades and 97 surface parking lots in the downtown.

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For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Verch, Manager, Communications & Marketing
Ph: (204) 958-4626 Cell: 297-0219 jennifer@downtownwinnipegbiz.com
 

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