Sitting outside the Old Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver’s Gastown, Peter Buckley looks out at an empty patio.
While it could just be Wednesday’s cooler, cloudier weather, Buckley, CEO of Old Spaghetti Factory Canada, says this is the busiest time of the year and the patio is normally full of tourists and locals.
“We’re experiencing volume – outside of COVID – that we haven’t experienced in our 54 years of operating in Gastown,” he said of the low turnout.
He is one of several business owners in Gastown who say their hopes that a pedestrian-only pilot project would boost business have been dashed as foot traffic and revenue have been falling.
“It’s a disaster,” said Ian Tostenson, BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association president and CEO, adding restaurants have been hit the hardest.
“We’re seeing numbers like 30 per cent reduction sales.”
The car-free pilot project started at the beginning of July and is supposed to run until the end of August, but Tostenson and others would like the city to stop the project early and allow cars to return immediately.
“I think the intention was good, but we’re not ready for it,” he said. “I think Vancouver is still a car town.”
Buckley agrees, saying the European cities the project was modelled on have not only have larger populations, they have transportation systems that allow more people to get around without a personal vehicle.
Businesses say the road closure has prevented tour buses from dropping off visitors closer to shops and restaurants.
“We’ve heard from over 30 businesses who are feeling a negative crunch here from an economic perspective,” said Wally Wargolet with the Gastown Business Improvement Society.
“For the first time ever, some restaurants are laying people off at the height of the summer season.”
Buckley says his restaurant would normally employ around 140 workers during peak season, but this year he has only had to bring on 110.
Earlier this year, businesses in the area said they were losing out on millions of dollars in revenue due to the repair work.
Months-long repairs were made to Maple Tree Square and Water Street ahead of the traffic closure. The work was part of a $10 million investment to revitalize the Gastown area.
“I think it’s early days,” Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said of the pilot.
“We’re going to keep listening to the businesses. We’re going to take the feedback from the residents, and we’re going to learn from other cities.”
Kirby-Yung says the construction before the closure must also be factored in when considering a slowdown in business.
Back in June, businesses said they understood the car-free program would be good for tourism business, but worried the lack of parking would prevent locals from shopping in the neighbourhood.
Kirby-Yung says she has seen plenty of positive feedback from residents about the pilot program. She did not rule out the possibility of only closing the roads on weekends, but says seasonal closures may be less labour intensive.
“Nothing is set in stone,” she said. “This is a pilot. We’re not making any permanent changes. We’re going to take all the feedback and then we’ll assess what we should do moving forward.”
Buckley says he met with city councillors two weeks ago to show them the restaurant’s historical guest counts.
“Since then, every week I have shared with the mayor and city council this location’s actual guest counts so that they can see firsthand that the pilot project unfortunately just isn’t working,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the road needs to be open. It just needs to be open.”