Not issuing parking tickets during 10-minute grace period being considered
Posted April 9, 2013 3:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
City council voted last summer to extend the grace period for parking tickets from five to 10 minutes after meter expiration, but a committee says parking enforcement officers haven’t adapted to the policy change.
Now the government management committee is recommending that both Toronto police and municipal law enforcement officers stop issuing the tickets until 10 minutes have “elapsed from the expiry of a paid parking time, excluding rush hour.”
The recommendation would still have to be approved by council at its meeting on May 7.
Currently, officers are handing out tickets during the 10-minute grace period, but they are almost always tossed if brought to court.
A staff report from the city treasurer to the government management committee in late March outlined the loss of revenue from cancelled tickets.
The report found that the total number of parking tickets cancelled in 2012 “increased significantly by 139,923 over 2011,” and said those numbers are a reflection of the increased grace period, and the fact that the policy has become “better known among the public.”
Last fall, Coun. Josh Matlow said the extended grace period wasn’t common public knowledge, and pushed for the city to be more transparent. Council agreed, voting to highlight the grace period on the city website.
Did you know about the 10-minute grace period on parking tickets? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
