Business owners in downtown Red Deer now have two options to help encourage more people to park and shop at the city's core.
By clicking on a link on the City of Red Deer's website, they can directly assist customers who are struggling with the new parking system — or they can actually follow through all the way and pay for their customers' parking fees.
Sunworks owner Paul Harris believes it's a no-brainer to pay the "50 cents or whatever " parking costs for people who are shopping at his store. "If you are out to provide good service for your customers, then this is part of providing good service."
Harris said he's been seeking these new options for months. Many of his customers have had a hard time adjusting to the digital parking system after parking meters were removed from the downtown last fall. And he believes he was losing business because of it.
Harris hopes the city will now install signs that lay out all the options: 1) pay with coins at a pay station, 2) scan a QR code with your smartphone, 3) download the HotSpot app (and then turn off your Wi-Fi if you are a Shaw customer wanting to park as it doesn't interface well with the app) — or 4) have your parking validated, or paid for, by a local downtown business.
Customers will have to bring their parking zone number as well as their licence plate number into a business to get assistance. This information still needs to be punched into the system.
"We will use a store credit card (to pay the charges). We have it set up at the till," said Harris. "Come buy a coffee and we will pay for your parking..."
Not all business owners are thrilled with this new option. One person posted on Twitter: “Rolling out a program for downtown businesses to pay for customer parking is not the answer. We are suffering downtown, customers won’t come, our taxes have risen but we should pay for customers parking to have them visit? Throwing that onto us isn’t the answer.”
But Amanda Gould executive-director of the Downtown Business Association, believes many downtown entrepreneurs will appreciate the "parking partners" program — whether they want to pay for their customers' parking, or help people figure out the system so that the customers can pay for it.
"It's something the business community has been asking for."
The Jumble Eats restaurant has been validating customers' parking for a while, she added, "and it's been extremely well received."
Erin Stuart, the City of Red Deer's inspections and licensing manager, said businesses will have to go through the same process as motorists to pay for their customers' parking. But this new option should ease some concerns for members of the public who are experiencing challenges with the technology.
There's always a slight chance that vehicles could be ticketed before store staff can complete paying for the parking. But Stuart said in that case, motorists should call the city. If online records show that a payment was made, the ticket will be vacated. "We do offer a grace period, if a payment has been made."
She feels many concerns about the new system have been lifting as people get more used to it and kinks are worked out.
The city is still receiving the locations of pay stations to see if a few more are needed, Stuart added.