Parking at a premium as more public servants return to the office

As more federal government workers begin to travel downtown on a more regular basis, parking is becoming more scarce at prime downtown Ottawa garages, drivers say. 

Wil Robertson, a downtown worker and Carleton University student, said he has to give himself at least 10 extra minutes to ensure he gets a spot at a garage close to his office.

"It's expensive and trying to find spots after 7:45 a.m or 8:00 a.m. is a little brutal," he said after parking his car at an Indigo garage on Laurier Avenue West shortly after 8 a.m.

Melissa Pavao, who travels from Alta Vista to work downtown a few days per week, said she thinks garages are now as full on weekdays as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, or maybe even a little more busy. 

"With federal workers and everyone else, you're really stuck to try to find a parking spot," she said. "Depending on what time you do arrive downtown, any time after 8:30 a.m. you're really out of luck nowadays."

Trying to find spots after 7:45 a.m or 8:00 a.m. is a little brutal.- Wil Robertson, downtown worker and student

Pavao and Robertson each pay $22 per day to park at their garage, where it also costs $250 monthly.

Indigo offers a three-day flexible pass at a garage just down the street that costs about $13.65 a day — less than it would cost for two people to take transit if they paid per ride.

OC Transpo fares cost $7.50 per person for two trips a day or $125 for the month.

Still. Pavao and other drivers CBC spoke to said she would return to taking OC Transpo if service reliability improved.

"I was at Hurdman last Monday and it was pretty much a disaster," she said, referring to a day when the Confederation Line was partially closed due to ice buildup on overhead power lines.

Pavao said she waited so long for a replacement bus at Hurdman station, she took a bus back to Greenboro station, got in her car and drove to work.

Jason Dubois, who works at Health Canada, said OC Transpo isn't reliable enough for he and his wife to take transit to work two days a week. For now, they are carpooling.

"We will take the transit when it's functioning smoothly," he said.

Transit ads for hybrid workers

OC Transpo is in the middle of a campaign trying to woo hybrid workers to transit.

As part of the campaign, the transit agency is reminding Presto card users they can share a monthly pass. Advertisements say sharing a pass is "ideal" for the hybrid worker. 

When asked how sharing would work, Pat Scrimgeour, director of transit customer systems and planning with OC Transpo, said it's up to riders to sort out the details. 

"That's the logistical thing they would have to figure out," he said. 

"There is almost any number of ways that people could share a Presto card. The only thing they can't do is two people can't use it at the same time."

Scrimgeour used one example where members of the same household could share the pass if they worked alternate days in the office. It's unclear how hybrid co-workers could share unless fo example, someone was able to drop off the pass before or after work at a colleague's home. 

Scrimgeour said there is no plan to offer a special incentive or fare for hybrid workers at this time but OC Transpo is always looking at "ways of making paying fares easier."

He said later this year, for instance, OC Transpo plans to allow riders to tap their credit cards to take the bus, as they can on some O-Train fare gates.

For now, garages continue to see their customer numbers swell.

Neither Impark nor Indigo returned CBC's requests for an interview, but Advantage Parking, which also manages multiple garages downtown, said it's seen a welcome bump in business.

With the hybrid work plan, manager Ramesh Abrol said his lots are filling up to 70 per cent capacity on weekdays. One lot on Sparks Street, which also serves a hotel, regularly fills up to 100 per cent. 

That's up from an average of about 25 per cent capacity last year, he said.