Background & Context

EPark and the Automated Parking Enforcement Program The City of Edmonton’s EPark system was introduced in 2015 as the first major project intended to modernize parking services in curbside parking zones and in City of Edmonton-owned parkade facilities. In 2015, EPark machines replaced existing traditional parking coin meters in Old Strathcona, Downtown, and Westmount/124th street.

The next phase of parking services modernization that The City is undertaking is the introduction of an Automated Parking Enforcement Program (APEP). Currently, parking enforcement is performed by patrol officers who observe vehicles and any associated placards or parking passes displayed on their front windshields, and manually write tickets where violators are observed. The Automated Parking Enforcement Program involves the use of cameras mounted to enforcement vehicles that will scan rear-mounted licence plates and identify vehicles not registered as paid on the EPark system. The goal of APEP is to significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of parking enforcement, and free up resources for parking patrol bylaw officers to attend to other parking issues that arise across Edmonton - including in school zones, tow-away zones and residential areas where parking is restricted.

Because enforcement is carried out via the scanning of rearmounted license plates, the APEP system will not recognize parking placards or hangtags traditionally displayed on a vehicle’s dashboard or hanging from a rear-view mirror. This includes provincially-issued Parking Placards for Persons City of Edmonton EPark Zone street side with Disabilities (Parking Placards). As such, the introduction payment terminals of APEP has significant implications for drivers who take advantage of the existing Curbside EPark Accessible Gratuity Program (Gratuity Program) that the City of Edmonton has historically provided for drivers displaying Parking Placards. In this program, drivers displaying a Parking Placard in a curbside EPark zone can receive 2 hours of free parking. In spring of 2018, The City of Edmonton’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and Parking Placard holders provided feedback to city administration regarding implications of the APEP launch to the Gratuity Program - Feedback provided has resulted in the postponement of the launch of APEP until a modernized parking management policy and program can be developed that balances the requirement to launch APEP and effectively manage curbside parking supply, with the equitable delivery of curbside accessible parking for Parking Placard holders.

The Provincial Parking Placard Program The management and distribution of Parking Placards for residents and visitors to Alberta is under the jurisdiction of the Province of Alberta. Applications for Parking Placards are approved by an authorized healthcare provider on the basis that the recipient is not able to walk more than 50 metres without assistance. The category of Parking Placard issued is dependent upon the length of time the individual experiences an impairment that prevents them from walking 50 metres without assistance (e.g. if someone breaks their leg but it is anticipated their leg will heal within 3-12 months and they will return to walking, then they would be issued a temporary placard.)

There are three categories of provincially issued parking placards:

Temporary placard, issued for a period between three and twelve months;

Long term placard, issued for five years; and

Permanent placard, that can be renewed every five years by the client without additional medical certification.

Parking Placards can also be issued to organizations that provide transportation services to persons with disabilities, where the drivers are employees and not volunteers. Alberta Health Services is an example of an organization which obtains large quantities of Parking Placards for transportation purposes.

It is important to note that the Province of Alberta’s policy is to issue Parking Placards to an individual or organization, and not to a specific vehicle or against a licence plate. It is common practice for Parking Placard holders to use their placard in multiple vehicles, both their own and those owned by others who may be transporting them.

A small subset of Parking Placard holders (typically Permanent Placard holders) opt to also mount a provincially-issued license plate Province of Alberta Accessible Parking Placard types which includes the international symbol of access, but outside of this, placards are not associated with specific license plates. Currently, there are approximately 39,000 Placard holders registered in the Metro Edmonton region.

As part of this work, the project team and Alberta Registries have been in contact regarding future possibilities for the provincial Motor Vehicle System (MOVES) to capture and share with the City of Edmonton the licence plate data of Parking Placard holders. Although there are no immediate provincial plans for an upgrade to MOVES that would make this possible, City of Edmonton’s Parking Services will continue to collaborate with Alberta Registries on opportunities for efficiencies between the Parking Placard program, the APEP system, and MOVES.

The City of Edmonton’s Role

DESIGNATED CURBSIDE ACCESSIBLE STALLS

The City manages curbside designated accessible stalls on the public road right-of-way and aims to ensure that drivers with Parking Placards have safe and equitable access to curbside parking. Designated accessible parking stalls have historically been installed through a demandbased program where business owners advise the City of locations that will have the greatest impact in supporting equitable access for Parking Placard holders to their businesses. Designated accessible stalls exist separately from the City’s paid EPark zones, and are free to use.

EPARK ZONES AND THE GRATUITY PROGRAM

In addition to the provision of free curbside designated accessible stalls, Parking Placard holders can currently also park for up to 2 hours free of charge in any curbside paid EPark zone. Although the project team was unable to source official documentation related to the origin or purpose of the Gratuity Program, it appears as though the curbside parking Gratuity Program in paid parking zones (now EPark zones) was originally introduced in the 1970s as a stop-gap to compensate for a lack of designated accessible parking stalls at the time, and to reduce physical barriers that some Parking Placard holders were experiencing while physically being required to return to make payment at traditional coin meters.

Currently, there are approximately 140 curbside designated accessible stalls in commercial locations throughout Edmonton.

Project Scope

IN SCOPE

The primary scope of this project was to gain a deeper understanding of Parking Placard holder experiences parking in curbside paid EPark zones, with the goal of creating an accessible parking program that balances the effective management of curbside parking with the equitable delivery of accessible parking for Edmontonians. However, once the design research was underway, it became clear that Parking Placard holder experiences using curbside designated accessible stalls was also important and interrelated to the primary project scope. Given this, options related to both how accessible parking can be accommodated in EPark zones as well as in curbside designated accessible stalls are included in this report.

EPark zones (Primary)

Designated Accessible Stalls (Secondary)

OUT OF SCOPE

Any parking experience or facility that does not fall into the two major categories of cityowned and operated curbside parking described above is out of scope for this project. This includes, but is not limited to:

Designated accessible stalls in City of Edmonton owned parkades or surface lots.

Designated accessible stalls in privately owned parkades or surface lots - Impark, Diamond Parking, Precise Park Link, etc.

Designated accessible stalls in parkades or surface lots owned or operated by hospitals or other healthcare facilities

Designated accessible stalls in parkades or surface lots owned or operated by strip malls, shopping malls, retail outlets etc