Willow Street’s Parking Puzzle

In 2017, the City of Vancouver issued a total of 31 parking and stopping tickets on the section of Willow St. outside Hamber. In 2023, this number jumped up to 318, a just-over-tenfold increase, according to the City of Vancouver Open Data Portal. These tickets were mainly given out in large quantities at a time, with 81 tickets given out on Sept. 20 alone. The 2023 data, which currently only includes tickets issued from January to September, is set to be updated at the beginning of the new year.

This increase in issued parking tickets came after “several complaints from residents, staff at Eric Hamber, and from parents of the school who said that the street [outside Hamber] was quite messy,” according to Kelly Lee, the City of Vancouver’s Parking Enforcement Operations Supervisor. 

Lee claimed that although there has been an increase in parking enforcement outside the school, the true reason for the surge in tickets is because of the sheer number of violations in the past year. “There are no-stopping signs outside your school,” he said. “[Drivers] should not be stopping there, so as soon as they do stop, we will be issuing a ticket.”

The rule surrounding stopping next to these signs is outlined in section 17.1(a) of Street & Traffic Bylaw 2849, which states:

An owner, registered owner, lessee or operator of a vehicle must not cause, allow or permit that vehicle to stop at any place where a traffic sign prohibits stopping wherever signs are displayed indicating that the zone, place or area is in the vicinity of a school, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. of any day on which school is regularly held.

One Hamber student, who preferred to remain anonymous, shared their experience with being ticketed on Willow St. earlier this year. “[It was] around 8:20 AM, so a lot of other people were getting dropped off as well,” they said. The student was charged $120 for violating section 17.1(a), which, according to Operations Supervisor Lee, is the standard amount for a ticket of this nature.

“I think they’re trying to control the crowd in front of the school because it gets hectic in the mornings, so giving out parking or stopping tickets might make people more aware of where they can stop or can’t stop,” the anonymous student said. “But it doesn’t seem to be the case. Everyone still stops there.”

Lee explained that the parking enforcement team also increases their presence after incidents are reported across the city. “If we hear anywhere in the city that a child gets hit, we will step it up,” he said, “not just specifically at your school, but any school.” 

Hamber’s administration has informed Lee that they have taken action in regards to parking by communicating at Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meetings. “According to your principal, it gets mentioned at almost every meeting,” he said. This information has not been confirmed nor denied by the Hamber administration.

On Sept. 1, administration sent out a statement regarding traffic regulation during drop-off and pick-up in their biweekly newsletter, reminding parents to “be aware of the street and traffic regulations (parking and no stopping zones) identified along Willow Street beside the school.” They additionally encouraged students to “walk, cycle, or use transit to and from our school as often as possible.”

One potential solution to the ticketing problem, as suggested by the anonymous Hamber student, is to hire a crossing guard at the crosswalk outside the entrance. “Right now everybody just walks randomly because it’s a crosswalk and cars have to stop.” They explained it would be beneficial to “have somebody controlling the crowd instead of a free-for-all.”

Lee said that the city has suggested hiring a crossing guard “to temper the vehicles from moving, because a lot of vehicles [...] are in a hurry — they drop off the students and they take off. We don’t want that kind of movement.”

The city is currently testing a variety of programs across Vancouver to deter traffic in front of schools. One example is the School Streets Program, a pilot project at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary which involves creating a car-free environment outside the school during drop-off and pick-up times. Programs like these are tested upon the request of school administration — Lee notes that if the project at Churchill proves successful, Hamber administration should consider applying for the program.