By Don Descoteau - Saanich News Feb 03 2006
When it came to creating pint-sized parking spots downtown, city councillors thought it was a smart idea. Drivers of vehicles less than three metres long, as well as motorcycle and scooter riders, will find more parking options on downtown streets starting in March or April, as city staff begin installing meters in areas previously marked with yellow lines or shortened by protruding landscape and sidewalk bulbs. "We're not converting existing parking spaces, we're adding to the inventory of parking downtown," said city transportation planner Brad Dellebuur. "We're making more efficient use of the space downtown. "The spaces are three metres long, about half the size of a regular space, and vehicles such as the Smart Car can legally be parked sideways in them. They will be metered separately but drivers will be charged half the normal rate as an incentive to use the tiny spots. "We started with 25 because we're not really sure how popular they're going to be," Dellebuur said. "We'll monitor them to see how successful they are. "While much of the publicity has been on the Smart Car, currently the shortest four-wheeled motorized vehicle marketed in the region, the use of metered parking spaces by motorcycle, moped and scooter riders is already "huge," he said.
Photo by: Quentin Jones
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