Toronto Rules! or charging higher rates for residential parking permits

For the last couple weeks, I have been enthralled with various documents from Toronto including the Toronto Walking Strategy and an excellent guide, Guidelines for the Design and Management of Bicycle Parking Facilities, to the provision of bicycle parking (which distinguish between the needs and requirements for parking for building users vs. building visitors).

This is in addition to the stupendous urban design coverage by Christopher Hume of the Toronto Star, not to mention the paper's transportation coverage including much on cycling, as well as the various Toronto Star map features on bicycling and pedestrian accidents as well as the newest map on cycling commuter origin location--which reiterates the necessity of density to support optimal mobility by walking, bicycling, and transit because you need population and activity density in order for non-automobile trips to be relatively efficient. This is especially true of bicycling and walking. (One reason I think that bicycle sharing will be difficult to implement successfully across major cities across the U.S. is because most lack the population and activity density necessary to make it be an efficient choice for people.)

Now I find out that Toronto charges far more for residential parking permits than does DC or most any city in the U.S., even taking into account the exchange rate (which only discounts the Canadian dollar by about 4 cents). From the website:

Permit fees vary according to a priority system based on need as reflected below:

• No access to on-site parking for resident's first vehicle:
  $11.95/month plus GST
• No access to on-site parking for resident's second and any subsequent vehicles:
  $29.88/month plus GST
• Resident does have access to on-site parking (permit is for convenience):
  $41.84/month plus GST

As mentioned in an earlier blog entry, DC's price for a residential parking permit is $15/year.

I'd feel a lot better about the "progressive" street meter parking policies that DC is developing if it would also address the significant underpricing of residential parking permits.

Then again, this is an election year.