Editor, The News:
Re: ‘Parking letter misses the point’ (The News, Nov. 6).
Whoever wrote the letter to the health minister had no intention of being successful as to remove the money source provided by pay parking at the hospital.
If the writer had been listening to the public outcry, the letter would have simply requested that Fraser Health apply its fee policy equally within the region.
In an earlier report, your paper identified that the policy stated that the fee would be equal to the amount charged in surrounding parking lots.
The only tolled parking lots in Maple Ridge are the TransLink lot at Maple Meadows Way and at municipal hall.
The latter has free parking for the first hour and a fee thereafter.
A fee similar to this would negate the fear of people using the hospital parking for a park and ride, something Maple Ridge is severely lacking, and satisfy the majority of concerns.
That request should be a no-brainer even for the bureaucrats at Fraser Health, and one the minister should be able to support without changing the tolling policy everywhere in British Columbia.
Graham Mowatt
Maple Ridge