The Town of Innisfil is nurturing a reputation for innovation – a reputation that began with its ‘out-of-the-box’ ride-sharing transportation system in partnership with Uber.
“Then other companies started finding us,” said Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin.
Innisfil became the first municipality to allow residents to pay their taxes with Bitcoin, through an agreement with Toronto-based Coinberry Ltd.
And now, another first: Innisfil is the first town to partner with Rover, a parking app, in a pilot project that could help solve the parking problem at Innisfil Beach Park.
The idea is to encourage residents who have an extra space in their driveway – who work during the day, or who may be away for a weekend but would like to generate some extra income – to register their extra parking space with Rover.
Then users of the Rover app can find registered spaces close to their destination, book, and pay for parking – all online.
The new partnership was launched on Monday with the unveiling of two dedicated Rover parking spaces at Innisfil Beach Park, admittedly more for the publicity and awareness than anything else.
It’s not meant to replace the paid parking at the beach, using the terminals installed in the parking lots, but to encourage visitors to use the Rover app to quickly book and pay for alternative parking, said Dollin – to keep visitors from parking in No Parking areas on side streets and facing costly parking tickets.
“For a municipality, and for this park in particular, (parking) is one of the biggest challenges,” Dollin said.
Continuing to add parking lots at the beach is not an option, she said.
“When you build a parking lot, you’re taking away what’s really important to the people here – the green space.”
So far, Dollin said, at least 70 parking spaces have been registered with Rover, “many of which are available close to Lake Simcoe.”
There is no cost to the municipality. In fact, Dollin noted, “the town will be getting revenue from these spots,” through a small administration fee. Rover also takes a small fee, but most of the payment goes to the renter of the spot – who can determine when the space is available, and how much to charge, “exactly” like Airbnb.
Dollin suggested there may be an expansion of the project, with additional Rover spaces at the town offices or Innisfil Recreational Complex – and it's not just for summer. Cottagers could register their spaces in the winter months, renting parking to ice anglers.
The benefits include improved safety and traffic flow – and for cottagers in winter, “getting a little revenue, and the cottage looks lived in.”
There won’t be any “lawns covered with cars,” Dollin promised; registered spaces must be “a legal parking spot.”
She was asked how the town intends to ensure that frustrated visitors don’t simply park in the two Rover spots, without using the app – especially on a busy holiday weekend, when parking is at a premium.
“We’ll be taking the advice of Rover,” she said. “They rent spaces in very congested places in Toronto. We anticipate that this will be an issue. We’ll be looking to Rover for their expertise.”
She said Rover would be in “constant contact” with the town’s bylaw enforcement.
Dollin credited staff, especially business performance specialist Nicole Bowman, who worked on the pilot for over a year, for Rover's launch in Innisfil.
“We’re leaders when it comes to finding innovative solutions,” the mayor said.
