Park(ing) it: First-time Montreal initiative transforms city’s car space

TAKING A STAND BY TAKING A SEAT: Park(ing) Day reclaims public space
Photo by Rebar 

Their plan for Friday, Sept. 21 is to keep feeding loonies to the metre until the cops show up.

The Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal is gearing up for its first Park(ing) Day, an event that will see it transform over 40 parking spots across the city into public spaces decked out with plants, lawn chairs, art and other  installations.

A grassroots, open-source event held in communities around the world, Park(ing) Days transform metered parking spots into temporary public spaces. The initiative was created to critique to the way space is used in urban settings and offer possible alternatives.

“Park(ing) day highlights a need to pay closer attention to the kind of space we reserve for the exclusive use of private vehicles,” says Anaïs Mathez, a spokesperson for the Conseil. “Are we optimizing the space? Could it be used in a better way?”

Arguing that current parking pricing and practices in Montreal are neither cost- nor space-effective, Mathez maintains that “for only about a dollar an hour to park, the city is subsidizing prime public space for the use of a single, private car.”

The disparity between Montreal city residents paying $50 for a permit to occupy certain spaces and the metered fares paid by off-island drivers is also something the Conseil questions. The Park(ing) Day collaborators aim to explore and promote alternatives to this arrangement, as well as encourage Montrealers to consider the fiscal and physical politics of parking.

According to Mathez, urban centres like San Francisco have already introduced demand-based rate systems. Since 2011, San Francisco has charged between $0.25 and $6 per hour, on selected metres, depending on the time of day and place drivers plan to park. Systems like these, proponents argue, ease traffic flow and congestion, and capitalize on the law of supply and demand.

Through Park(ing) Day, the Conseil hopes to find “some fairness or equilibrium” in how space is allocated in tightly congested cities like Montreal, as well as promote public transportation, biking and pedestrian-friendly cityscapes. To those ends, it is collaborating with En Ville Sans ma Voiture to host activities aimed at encouraging Montrealers to rethink urban spaces and collective movement.

This, of course, harkens to the Occupy movement, which in the past year has taken hold globally. But Park(ing) Day approaches the appropriation of public space from a different angle, according to Mathez. “As the public and as a citizen, we have the authority to rent this space by paying for it, so why do we live in these urban areas where we are controlled, or restricted as to what the use of this space is?”

A map of Park(ing) Day installations, daily programming and event times will be announced in the Old Port on Friday. ■

For more information and maps, check out parkingdaymontreal.org or follow @CREMontreal on Twitter.