Vancouver’s descent into Taylor Swift madness is officially here, and with it, so are the efforts to make a buck, which have ramped up significantly everywhere, from illegal sublets to ticket scams and, most recently, parking lot price hikes.
With just days to go before the global sensation performs at BC Place for the final three concerts of her Eras tour, fans are now learning that some parking lots will change their fees to as much as $150, leading to mounting concerns and questions.
According to Facebook posts, unofficial parking spots are also popping up online, with residents offering to give up their space in exchange for a significant fee.
Daniel Chai/Daily Hive
For those who are unable to walk, take transit, or get dropped off, there are limited options in Vancouver, especially since there will be an expected 80,000 people in the core for Cirque du Soleil, Taylor Swift, and the Vancouver Canucks, and that is making some people desperate for solutions.
While the spot won’t be guaranteed, at least some lots won’t be changing their payment model for the weekend. That’s according to Impark’s General Manager Moe Ezzo, who says they have been speaking with property owners and city officials to advocate for ethical pricing, and as a result, customers shouldn’t see triple digits when it comes time to pay.
“From our perspective, we’re looking at keeping our prices and practices fair and ethical. We’re not looking to gouge, basically, users and parkers just for a day or two … We have a long-term vision with our clients and their tenants, and we want to satisfy as well their needs from [a] customer-service point of view, and that’s how we look at things when it comes to event pricing or special events that are happening around the area,” Ezzo told Daily Hive.
@taylorswift13/X
“Our most important kind of aspect of this is ensuring that families are not burdened with additional costs. We understand the ticket prices for Taylor Swift and the hotel and additional kind of car sharing services like Uber, etc, they all have increased their prices, and we’re not looking to do that. We’re looking to keep it basically standardized and keep it nice and safe for basically all users,” Ezzo said.
Will previously hourly lots suddenly bring in an event charge?
“We have not seen any clients kind of requesting or asking us to implement event parking beyond the vicinity of those kind of places that I just mentioned. I have other clients around the financial district or downland core, they have not requested or asked to kind of change the rates or to implement new event rates just because of the Taylor Swift concert,” he explained.
For example, P2 of the Costco parking lot across from Rogers Arena will maintain its standard rates this weekend, which will be the event rate. Event rates range between $35 and $60, depending on the lot’s location and proximity to the venue.
For Costco shoppers, P1 will remain $2 for two hours for Costco shoppers. That’s good news if you want to grab groceries, but for Canucks games and the Taylor Swift shows, that will be too short of a parking window, so attendees are urged to park elsewhere instead.
The company is also increasing staff for the weekend to help customers get in and out of lots more easily, but that will also ensure compliance. Parking fines range up to about $100, and violators could be towed.
For those who have mobility limitations, the City of Vancouver has a list of designated accessible parking spaces for those who have a valid SPARC permit.
TransLink’s Park and Rides will also maintain their rates, ranging from $2 to $3, depending on the lot. To learn more about taking transit to the concerts, head here.