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The Toronto Parking Authority (TPA), commonly known as Green P for its green-colour branding, is a municipal
The TPA operates around 59,000 parking spaces divided into 3 categories – off-street parking lots and garages, on-street metered parking, and
parking
Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the buildings' ...
services company owned by the City of Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. The TPA was established in 1998 with the merger of parking operations in the area of the former Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
. A municipal parking authority in the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto was first set up in 1952, taking over management of parking from the police.
The TPA operates off-street parking lot
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...
s and parking garages, on-street metered parking, and Toronto's bicycle-sharing system
A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.
The programmes themselves include bo ...
, named Bike Share Toronto. It is one of the largest operators of municipal parking services in North America and is 100% self-sustaining through parking user fees and other sources, returning 75% of its annual net operating income to the City of Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, totaling $1.5 billion dollars since 1992.
Operations
The TPA operates around 59,000 parking spaces divided into 3 categories – off-street parking lots and garages, on-street metered parking, and joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
managed lots across Toronto.
21,000 of these spaces are located in over 300 off-street parking lots and garages, with the largest parking garage being the 2,027 space Toronto City Hall
The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened ...
underground parking garage at Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Tor ...
. Parking lots that are operated by the Toronto Parking Authority are marked by green signs with their signature P in the middle, hence the name 'Green P' parking.
The TPA also manages and operates parking facilities under contract for the Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...
, with around 13,000 spaces located at 17 TTC stations across the city, including at new stations on the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension. The largest TTC parking lot is the combined parking lot for Finch Station, with over 3,200 spaces.
The TPA operates and maintains Toronto's bicycle-sharing system
A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.
The programmes themselves include bo ...
, which is known as Bike Share Toronto. The TPA took over from Public Bike System Company
PBSC Urban Solutions, formerly the Public Bike System Company, is an international bicycle-sharing system equipment vendor with their headquarters based in Longueuil, Quebec. The company develops bicycle-sharing systems, equipment, parts, and so ...
(PBSC) in 2013, when they ran into financial difficulties. Since then, ridership has grown exponentially reaching 8 million rides, with the system now covering of the Greater Toronto Area with 6,850 bikes at 625 stations and 12,000 docking points.
Enforcement
Enforcement of parking rules in TPA's lots is carried out by TPA's own parking enforcement officers. Customers who fail to pay, or who park for longer than the amount of time that they purchased, may be issued an official police tag for eachparking violation
A parking violation is the act of parking a motor vehicle in a restricted place or in an unauthorized manner. It is against the law virtually everywhere to park a vehicle in the middle of a highway or road; parking on one or both sides of a roa ...
.
See also
* Bike Share Toronto – bike-sharing program run by TPAReferences
External links
* {{Authority control Municipal government of Toronto Parking companies Transport companies established in 1998 1998 establishments in Ontario Companies owned by municipalities of Canada