Winnipeg parking fee hike could be near

The City of Winnipeg is considering a parking plan that could extended meter hours and hike rates.

Currently a city run meter takes $1 per hour, but by the fall the cost could be doubling to $2 per hour.

The plan will also extent the hours of payment from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 

"Doubling," said Dan Chubey from Winnipeg who parks downtown often. "That's pretty expensive. I might have to get a second job."

The city committee that approved the hike said it was not a cash grab, but a strategy.

Committee officials said downtown streets should be for short term parking, not for camping out.

"Businesses have said they need that turnover to be successful," said Randy Topolniski with the parking authority. "So we're trying to change that perception and people's habits."

If a person has to park for more than two hours they should use off-street parking, said Topolniski.

Andrea Iriah is a consultant from Toronto, where she said parking downtown costs a lot more.

"I was like, really," said Iriah. "Was it that low? Cause in Toronto we pay like five dollars on some places, downtown Toronto, 18 dollars a day."

The City said the extra money would go to improving downtown streets and parkades.

The parking plan still has to go to city council for final approval.

This would be the first parking increase in Winnipeg in about two decades.