Parks and Recreation Parking Strategy

Parking lots managed by the Vancouver Park Board help people get to community centres, recreation facilities, parks, and beaches.

They also support community and economic activities like filming, events, and businesses.

We’re developing a parking strategy to improve how parking is managed and planned for in the future.

This strategy was identified in VanPlay: Vancouver’s Parks and Recreation Services Master Plan, and aims to achieve 3 main goals:

Improve park user experience and access.
Achieve financial sustainability.
Improve operations and management of parking infrastructure.

Objectives
- Complete a city-wide inventory to understand current and future needs for amenities and services.
- Identify creative programs and solutions to improve park accessibility for those facing barriers.
- Balance the need for parking with the shift in transportation modes and emerging trends.
- Identify and confirm parking lots with the greatest community benefit to transition from unmanaged lots to managed pay lots.
- Align parking revenues with park services and amenities.
- Understand parking demand, use patterns, and park users' needs and experiences to enable data-driven policies and improvements.
- Develop level of service standards for accessible parking, EV charging, and car-share and bike-share programs, and align with the City of Vancouver’s strategies and policies.
- Optimize parking supply and develop an equitable parks-specific policy.
- Prioritize improvements to parking including management and infrastructure upgrades.

Timeline

Sep 2023 to Jan 2024

Phase 1

Data and research collection
Jan to Apr 2024

Phase 2

Analysis and stakeholder engagement
May to Aug 2024

Phase 3

Draft policy options with follow-up engagement with key stakeholders

Begin implementation framework
We are here
Sep to Dec 2024

Phase 4

Final policy recommendations and implementation framework

Board decision - Dec 2024

Background
- April 16, 2018 Board Motion 100 KB to develop a comprehensive parking policy
- 2020 VanPlay Implementation Playbook 3.9 MB highlighted the need for parking policy and parking fees
- 2022 Service Plan (1.8 MB) cited the need to advance a new parking policy framework
- January 16, 2023 “Think Big” Revenue Strategy Board Motion 236 KB to apply a revenue-generating strategy lens when developing the parking strategy
- 2024-2028 Budget Outlook Council report 482 KB identifying the Parks Parking Strategy as a short-term opportunity to generate revenue to balance City budgets

Contact us

parksparkingstrategy@vancouver.ca