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| - I agree with Heather in that nobody 'likes' paying for parking. But, I dont MIND paying for *reasonable* parking.
The one star is for the underhand and cheap way, either calgary road planners or in conjunction with CPA, decide to make previous free roads, chargeable. More on this later.
I have no issues with getting tickets if its my own dumbass fault for being well over time or what have you on the 9th ave lot or whatever, I just chalk it up to the cost of doing business.
I also have no issues with the fact that parking is controlled downtown. After all, if it wasnt a paid system, with time limits maximum, people would park there 24 hours a day 365 and their would be no fair turn a bouts for different folks. I get that.
What is irksome is the high pricing. I wouldn't mind a buck 50 an hour, MAX in some areas.
I also have no issue with the CPA staff, public facing and behind the scenes. They are all doing their jobs, and following orders, somewhat like the poor little german recruit fighting for the Nazis, he's doing it for a paycheque. They know its a distasteful exercise, and the parking resi permit ladies are nice enough.
I'm sure the parking wardens (thats what we call em in Europe) a good half of them are decent fair minded people. However there's probably a good minority who are little hitlers.
Eg, getting two tickets, one for 'being in a fire hydrant zone' and 'being within 1.5m of a driveway.
The first one, funny that, they removed the original sign so one has no idea where it used to be, UNLESS you know where the original bolt holes in the sidewalk are. I do, and took photos. I was behind that on the legal side and ticket was thrown out.
The other one? Fair cop, I was within 1.5m of a driveway, a multilevel parkade entrance. Where people frequently park, and there's still loads of room for cars to pull out. I was just the unlucky one, either getting clobbered by a jobsworth warden or someone bitched.
So either ticket everyone by the entrance every day, or dont do it at all.
You never knew that huh? Yep. You have to park a min of 1.5m away from a driveway, either residential or commercial. How to make sure? Its one standard concrete panel (1m wide I believe) and the part of the sidewalk that slopes down level for an entrance. As long as you are clear away of that, the MAN can't get you.
So what's this about Calgary Roads and CPA doing the formerly free now paid switcheroo? Well. Remember before crowfoot LRT got finished? It was unrestricted parking all day every day, on both sides from the back of Northwest Acura all the way to the ford dealership opposite Mcdonalds. Here: https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.1229099,-114.205888,3a,75y,307.03h,71.67t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sTy_2n5mHdBcnTvmLKiANnQ!2e0
Im sure a real blessing for folk working there.
As soon as the LRT was finished, and the paid parking lot was up and running at the LRT, either time/paid or restrictions poles were put up all the way along the road.
Can't have working stiffs not using the paid parking at the LRT now can we? Although Im sure it was a complete coincidence, and it was done for 'safety' and 'traffic flow'.
Right. Much like sleeping policemen/traffic bumps/rat run cut offs (16th ave stretch heading eastbound towards deerfoot) and 40kph limits crop up like fast spreading warts on residential areas and roads that just happen to have some of the richest voters because the poor muffins dont like other peoples cars driving on 'their' roads they pay for through gas taxes.
Complete coincidence, must be.
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