The new amalgamated City of Toronto came into existence on January 1st, 1998 – and so did a new parking authority to serve its needs. The Parking Authority of Toronto and the Parking Authority of North York merged to created a new company, the Toronto Parking Authority. Responsibilities were later expanded into Etobicoke, East York, Scarborough, and York. Commencing in 2001, 75% of the Parking Authority’s net profit is returned to the City as a dividend into the city’s general reserves. In 2001 this amounted to $26.0M and reduced the tax bills of the residents of the City of Toronto by 2 1/2 to 3%. The parking card program was launched in 2002 – another worldwide first. It allowed the cardholder to park at any Authority off-street or on-street location accepting the card, charging fees to the card itself. The Toronto Parking Authority has proven itself capable of improving efficiencies, finding solutions, and effecting positive change within a challenging and dynamic transportation system.

1995 was a record year for the Authority in terms of the number of property acquisitions due to the economic recession producing unclaimed spaces. The Corso Italia garage was built on the site of an existing Authority carpark in 1994 and earned an Ontario Architecture Society’s Design award in 1995. The St. Lawrence Garage became a fully automated facility in 1995 using European technology allowing patrons to purchase monthly passes, multi-use value cards, or individual parking stays. It became the first location in the world where a personal credit card could be inserted, and when re-inserted at the exit point, billed the user and issued a receipt. Toronto became the first city in North America to utilize solar-powered pay-and-display technology when, in 1996, the Authority installed these machines on Yorkville Avenue. Using wireless technology, the head office could monitor the machines, which was the first technology of this kind in the world.

In 1981, computer-enabled data collection was expanded and students collected usage and occupancy information, transmitting via hand-held computer terminals to the City Hall mainframe computer. The Authority introduced a five-year plan to replace all meters and mechanical pay-and-display machines at its un-staffed sites with electronic pay-and-display devices in 1988. By 1989 three new underground garage multiple-use developments were introduced on Bloor Street West below the Hotel InterContinental, on Clinton Street for CHIN radio studios and a seniors’ housing development, and for the Chinatown district. Throughout the decade, the Parking Authority of Toronto had proven an effective ally in the City’s push for greater mixed land-use.

In 1974, the Authority launched a multiple-use assessment of all City-owned property designated to its use. This was to ensure that all 45 sites were of optimum citywide benefit, especially with the increase in development and a diverse user base. In 1976 the City Hall mainframe computer was used to store car occupancy and usage data from all cashiered facilities which helped track user patterns. In a joint 1979 project with City Hall, the Authority began to monitor both current and future parking demands via a computer-accessible data system. By 1979, a formal set of rate objectives was in place that included the provision of low-cost parking in neighbourhood commercial areas. The Authority’s formidable base now set the stage for both record usage and construction activity levels in the decade to come.

Toronto entered a boom period in the 1960s, bringing new construction downtown. Newly completed roadways like the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway also brought the need for supplementary parking space beyond downtown. In 1963, City Council enacted legislation that allowed developers to make a payment to the City in lieu of providing parking. These monies were channeled into a municipal parking fund to create essential parking facilities. In the 1960s a beautification program was implemented featuring trees, flowers, decorative cut-stone walls, and wrought iron detailing. At the turn of the decade, the City began taking more conservative approaches to matters of growth, transit and traffic to which the Authority would prove well adapted.

Following the Parking Authority’s establishment on June 24, 1952, its general manager and commissioners began developing congestion solutions for the city. Called the “practical parking picture,” it took shape throughout the 1950s to meet the demand of the downtown core and surrounding neighbourhoods. With the implementation of the TTC’s “cut-and-cover” trenches above subway lines, the spaces loaned themselves to surface lot conversions. The City could prohibit curbside parking in areas served by carparks, improving traffic flow while meeting needs of local stores. In 1957 three state-of-the-art above ground parking garages were unveiled. Later, two mechanical garages were built, providing a combined 684 spaces, and raising cars to upper levels using a ground-level hydraulic platform. Serving over 4.6 million patrons in the last year of the decade, it was clear the practical parking picture would serve the city well in challenging years ahead.