One-hour free parking promotion could be extended by Council through holiday season

Discussion at London city hall could result in free downtown parking for drivers.

Just days before its expiration, a one-hour free street parking promotion in downtown London and the Old East Village might get an extension until the end of this year.

On Monday, Coun. David Ferreira brought forward a motion to the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee to utilize unspent funding already earmarked for the promotion to extend it beyond Oct. 31.

“At the moment, the free one-hour parking is slated for termination by the end of this month,” Ferreira told the committee. “It has been beneficial to businesses in the core area.”

Of the $181,875 approved by city council to fund the promotion earlier this year, approximately $128,000 has been spent to date.

Based on current usage, civic administration projects the program could be extended to Dec. 31, 2025 within the existing approved funding.

The extension was unanimously supported by the CAPS Committee.

Coun. Sam Trosow, who opposed free parking in the past, was supportive of the extension.

“I’m going to depart from my usual crustiness about parking,” Trosow said, eliciting a good natured chuckle from his colleagues. “I’m just going to say there is a funding source for this and there is a demonstrated benefit to the downtown at a time when they really need some additional help.”

City staff will continue to honour the one-hour free street parking promo code until council makes a final decision on Nov. 4.

The discount can be activated by entering the promo code ‘CORE’ into the Honk Mobile App or calling parking services and providing the car’s license plate number and parking zone.