'Confusing' signage around free parking sees dozens of tickets handed out in Exchange District: resident

A Winnipeg resident says she witnessed dozens of cars being ticketed in the Exchange District Saturday and blames vague signage about when people do and do not have to pay for parking on the weekends.

Kali Martin says she was participating in a pop-up market on Princess Street Saturday morning when she noticed several people being ticketed nearby. Worried that the market's vendors were being ticketed, she ran outside.

"So I ran out to say, 'Hey, wait a second, isn't it two hours of free parking?' I sort of got a very curt, 'I'm just doing my job, check the website, it's two hours free parking after you pay — like, your second two hours are free.'"

However, nowhere is that rule stated on the parking meters, she said. Instead, there's a sticker that says "2 hours complimentary on Saturday" with no other details.

Confused, Martin said she called the city's 311 department, which confirmed the rule. She then looked on the city's parking website, which also had the rule posted under Meter Payment Methods.

"The Winnipeg Parking Authority offers two-hour complimentary parking on Saturdays when maximum on-street paid parking time is purchased," a City of Winnipeg spokesperson said in an emailed statement to CBC.

"The two-hour complimentary on-street parking offer applies at any time between 0800 and 1730 on Saturday and starts immediately following the maximum paid parking purchase. There have been no changes in terms of this policy, which was approved by council in 2012."

Internet archives show the city updated its parking website to reflect the rules sometime between June and December of 2017.

Previously, the city's website did not specify that the two hours of free parking came into effect after the first two hours were paid for, saying simply, "The two-hour complimentary parking offer applies at any time between 0800 and 1730 on Saturday."

Martin began trying to find more information, including searching news stories and the Downtown BIZ website. She found the Downtown BIZ website just says two free hours of parking are allowed on Saturdays.

"Lots of people don't understand," said Martin, who said she believes people interpret the rules as meaning the first two hours are free and that if you pay, you can stay an additional two hours — not the other way around.

"Those first two hours have always been free. There's absolutely no new signage," she added. "Nothing. It's the exact same signage they've always had."

Confusion seemed to reign as people sent questions to the city on social media Saturday about their tickets.

"Why are there so many cars with parking tickets in the exchange, me included," asked Twitter user @Rondoloui. "Is there not two hours of complimentary parking in effect? Will I be reimbursed for my time to dispute it? Let's help out Exchange district holiday shoppers."

Winnipeggers are definitely confused about the rules, said Todd Dube of Wise Up Winnipeg, a traffic-ticket fighting organization. 

"If you ask anybody, they're under the impression that Saturdays, there's two hours of free parking. That seems pretty simple and it should be. However, when you go downtown, and you look at the meter for some sort of confirmation, it doesn't really say that, but it also doesn't say otherwise.

"You'd think the city would want to be hyper-clear about something so critical."

The city could easily alleviate the confusion around the free parking issue by updating the stickers on the meters, said Dube. 

"They should make a sticker — and we've costed them out, they're about four cents a sticker — and they should say 'Two hours free parking, with or after two hours of paid parking,'" he said.

According to Dube, the city issues tickets to hundreds of people a day who "remain confused by something that should not be confusing."