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New monthly city parking passes non-transferable

May 22, 2018 | 6:12 AM

LETHBRIDGE – There could be a bit of a snag when it comes to those who purchase monthly passes at the new parking kiosks.

Unlike monthly passes in other cities, the Lethbridge passes are not transferable to other vehicles.

According to a letter sent to downtown parking permit holders, there are a few simple steps to purchase a monthly parking pass:

  • Select “Zone”
  • Select the “Monthly” button
  • Enter your license plate number
  • Insert payment
  • Select the “30 days” option
  • Get your receipt

Sounds great, except when someone decides to take a vehicle than the one registered, they’ll have to pay extra each time they do so. For example, if someone drives a truck to work normally, but decides to take another vehicle for whatever reason, even though they’ve paid for the monthly pass, it’s not transferable to another vehicle, and they’ll have to pay for another daily pass. Or, if the person with the monthly pass has an accident and gets a loaner vehicle, the same principle applies.

Ahmed Ali is the City of Lethbridge’s Manager of Transportation and Engineering. He confirms that right now they don’t have the capability to register two vehicles on one pass.

“If you have more than one vehicle, at this time we don’t have the capability to do two numbers on one pass. So, they will have to use use the meters as if they’re parking for the day.”

For companies in downtown Lethbridge who buy monthly passes for their employees, Ali says they can ask to be reimbursed.

“You can get a printout of whatever your expense for parking is and then you can submit it to your employer if he’s going to give the money back to you.”

However, he says if there are extenuating circumstances, like an accident where the monthly pass holder is not driving their usual vehicle, they can contact the city.

“You can contact the City of Lethbridge Parking Department and then we will be able to help you out. So, we will enter the other car number instead of the previous car number.”

In Calgary, those who buy monthly parking permits can set up an account online which allows them to change or use up to three license plates on a single pass:

“How to update your licence plate(s) in your CPA Monthly Account

Step 1: Log in to your myID account at parkonline.calgary.ca. Click on “CPA Monthly Contract.”

Step 2: If your myID account email is the same as the email on your monthly contract account you can skip this step as you will be automatically matched to your existing monthly contract information. If your myID account email is different from your monthly contract account you will need to enter your Contract number and Number of Stalls under contract. Click submit.

Step 3: Please confirm or update your address and contact information for Calgary Parking Authority. Note: This information will only be updated for your CPA monthly parking contract. It will not affect any information associated with other parking accounts such as a ParkPlus cell phone account.

Step 4: Check or update licence plates. Up to three plates maximum can be entered.”

The one caveat to the program is that only one vehicle may be parked using the pass at any given time.

And in other cities, like Richmond, B.C. which has a population about double that of Lethbridge, monthly permit holders must still purchase a card pass through the city to display in their vehicles. The passes are transferrable that way.

“Effective July 1st, 2010 short-term, Payments for on-street pay parking can be made by coin or by using our AutoPay cellular-based system. For more information, please see our Pay Parking page.

 Monthly on-street permit parking is available at the rate of $50 per month.

 Monthly parking permits can be obtained from City Hall.”

 Daily and hourly parking is done by smartphone app, or by using coins in meters.

Ali says the new kiosk system isn’t up and running just yet, so if there are issues, they may have a look at them in the future.

“I don’t know the answer at this time…but it doesn’t mean we’ll not look at it. We’ll definitely look at it in the future.”

The new meters will be in operation by May 28.