The City of Toronto has struck a tentative deal with the agency that runs its public parking lots, avoiding possible cuts to its popular Bike Share program and EV charging station rollout.The Toronto Parking Authority has reached a new profit-sharing agreement with the city, which will mean it can avoid deferring millions in capital work to the Bike Share and electric vehicle charging station programs.
Budget chief Shelley Carroll said the talks may have looked tense, but it just took time to hammer out the right arrangement. The parking authority said it has contributed $1.4 billion to the city through the dividend since 2002. That has been used to fund "other municipal services and programs, including public transit, housing and parks," according to a TPA report in March.
Those duties include operation of Toronto Bike Share and the expansion of its electric vehicle charging station program, programs that cost millions. The agency says it is grappling with a $300-million state of good repair backlog for its parking lots over the next decade. It also needs to replace over 3,000 pay and display machines reaching the end of their life.
"I think there was some thinking that perhaps a dividend wasn't required, or perhaps it's time to get out of the dividend," she said. "But this is an agency solely of the City of Toronto, no other shareholder, and a dividend has always been in there." The parking authority said the previous profit sharing arrangement did not account for its expanded duties, including the operation of Toronto Bike Share and the expansion of its electric vehicle charging station program, programs that cost millions.