Parking Management
Intent
The intent of this plan is to encourage the use of more sustainable forms of transportation, including public transit, bicycles, walking, or carpooling and vanpooling for regular trips to the building to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips.
Environmental issues
Vehicle use contributes to many environmental issues including:
- Release of air and water pollutants through vehicle exhaust.
- Exhaust fumes contribute substantially to global warming.
- Environmental impact occurs during extraction, refining, and transportation of crude oil for gasoline production.
- Parking facilities typically have an asphalt surface resulting in increased stormwater runoff and which contributes to the urban heat island effect.
- Minimizing parking lot size reduces the development footprint and allows more space for natural areas or more dense development.
- Less paved area for parking results in less snow clearing and maintenance of asphalt, resulting in lower operating expenses.
Solutions
Where possible, our buildings include (as part of the common areas and available to all tenants) bike storage and shower facilities to encourage tenants to walk or cycle to work. As well, we have provided in some parking lots, parking spaces that are dedicated for use by carpools or by electric vehicles. These spaces are located closer to the building entries as an incentive.
Alternative transportation
Carpools reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles and help reduce traffic congestion, environmental concerns, and health issues. Check out carpool opportunities at http://www.hfxridematch.ca Parking spots specified for use by carpooling are provided closer to entry points to the building.
Vanpools are becoming more common with several commercially operated vanpools in the region. You can find contact information on these services at http://www.greenrider.ca or http://whitestransit.com.
CarShareHFX has a ready-to-use fleet of cars around the Halifax Regional Municipality. This environmentally sustainable solution allows you to use the CarShareHFX vehicles when you need it, and save the expense of car ownership. http://www.carsharehfx.ca/
Walking and bicycling have the added benefit of increasing your physical activity and therefore your health.
The more users of public transit, the more likely the transit system will expand to provide better services in more areas. Check out the public transit websites to determine if there is a bus service that could accommodate your transportation needs on a regular basis http://www.halifax.ca/metrotransit/Schedules,http://www.metrobus.com and use it whenever possible.