CfSC is very concerned that the proposed Pay & Display parking ticket machine procurement process does not include provisions to ensure adequate year-round bicycle parking.

Options have not been made available to replace any parking meters that are removed as a result of this process. The bicycle parking system offered by Velocity is seasonal, and indeed these racks have not yet been installed today, yet many cyclists are out on the street.

Parking meters provide a very secure form of year-round bicycle parking. There are a variety of alternatives, including Toronto's example of simply cutting the 'heads' off of parking meters and installing rings to turn them into ring-and-post racks, or simply replacing the parking meters with bicycle racks in other parts of the neighbourhood (such as the various forms of bicycle parking installed and to be installed along Bank Street during its ongoing reconstruction).

Whatever alternatives are used, some alternative is necessary when and if parking meters are phased out for Pay & Display units.

A letter outlining the above concerns has been sent to the City of Ottawa.

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