Council has agreed with the recommendations of town administration and won't be withdrawing a $150 ticket issued for parking in a bus zone, nor providing $1,000 in restitution.

It also won't be repaying any other parking tickets issued for similar infractions in the past and believes the signage is consistent with requirements established by other Alberta municipalities.

While not recommending the cancellation of the ticket, administration said complainant Laurie Quillian has the option of challenging the ticket through the provincial court system.

At its Feb. 22 meeting, Quillian asked to have a $150 ticket withdrawn for parking in a bus stop zone on Grande Boulevard.

She argued the sign is not easily visible to motorists, the yellow warning paint on the curve didn't reach or go past the sign at the time, and the sign isn't easily recognizable.

Last night, town transit coordinator Devin LaFleche provided details on the review conducted.

He said the town currently has 145 bus stops, down from the original 152 stops.

He explained the town heavily relied upon the size and shape of bus stop signs used in Airdrie and Calgary while also examining those of several other Alberta municipalities.

"The road team had some good points to make sure that our sign wasn't too large, and did not interfere with regular traffic signs," said LaFleche.

LaFleche says they have examined other possible upgrades to the signage, each coming with a cost. To make them two-sided would cost $11,000, it would cost $23,000 to paint all curbs in transit zones, and another $126,000 and add solar bus stop signage.

Since transit was launched in October 2019, municipal enforcement has issued nine tickets for parking in a bus stop zone. There have been at least two complaints received from motorists ticketed. There have been 24 complaints receive of people parking in a bus stop zone, the majority of which came from COLT dispatchers.

The complaints first go to LaFleche to determine if they should be pursued by municipal enforcement, and not all resulted in ticketing.

While Quillian did not receive the action she sought, her complaint to the town did result in yellow curb paint added to eight downtown stops in the fall. Curb paint isn't required by the town's transit bylaw.

"Seeing that transit was brand new to Cochrane, we wanted to add that," said LaFleche.

Councillor Morgan Nagel suggested the town could consider adding a red circle with a crossed-off P" on them.

LaFleche says it is the installation of the sign, not the sign itself, that makes up the bulk of the cost. He said it may cost $9,000 to $10,000 but would have to examine it closer to provide a clearer estimate.

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