Police to issue heftier tickets for rush hour parking
Downtown rush hour parking violators will be fined $150, up from the $60 penalty.
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City officials say they want to change driver behaviour, that new tougher downtown penalties — up from $60 — aren’t about raising revenue.
“If we get 40 per cent of the tickets we’re writing right now, that would be revenue neutral,” said Stephen Buckley, general manager of Toronto Transportation Services.
“We have no idea how much compliance this will produce. Any time we do make changes like this you never really can estimate the level of compliance,” he said.
The higher fines, rolling out Thursday at midnight, will apply between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The fines would be applied citywide.
They will be reinforced by a new fixed-fine system that will prevent motorists from receiving a reduced penalty if they take their ticket to court.
Habitual parking offenders — vehicle owners with three unpaid or unchallenged tickets — will have two weeks to get their fines paid. They will then be subject to immediate towing if they’re caught committing a fourth violation more than 120 days after their last offence.
“Illegally parked and stopped vehicles significantly contribute to traffic congestion and are costing motorists money in travel delays, vehicle operating costs and accidents. We’ve all experienced it, the flagrant behaviour of a few thoughtless individuals,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the city’s public works committee.
“This system will improve compliance with Toronto’s parking regulations, ensuring that fines continue to deter illegal parking while also preserving an efficient and fair dispute system,” he said.
Mayor Rob Ford has called the new fines a cash grab that puts businesses such as couriers at risk.
Asked about posted rush hours, Ford said: “They’re good as they stand now,” he said Monday.
But in March or April new signs with extended no-stopping hours will be posted on some downtown streets, including King and Queen, to better match lengthening peak periods, said Buckley.
Toronto issues about 2.7 million parking tickets and collects about $80 million in revenue annually. Only about 0.3 per cent of that money comes from rush hour parking and stopping violations, said Anthony Fabrizi, manager of utility billing and parking ticket operations.
About $5 million — the equivalent of 140,000 tickets — remains unpaid each year. The city estimates that 115,000 vehicle owners have three or more outstanding parking tickets worth about $11.5 million.
The new parking fines are only “one tactic” the city is employing to ease downtown traffic, said Buckley.
“We are looking at things like better practices for minimizing the amount of time lanes are taken out of service for construction, we’re looking at whether the current peak hours that are listed on certain arterials still apply,” he said.
Vehicles that stop in bike lanes will also be subject to $150 fines.
The new rules were passed by city council in 2012 but it’s taken the city time to have them approved by the Ontario attorney general and then a regional justice.
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