Photo enforcement touted to police residential parking
Calgary’s parking patrol could start using its camera cars to issue tickets in residential zones.
Building off the city’s ParkPlus System, possible changes to the traffic bylaw — set to come before the city’s transportation committee Wednesday — would see a shift to electronic permits and use photo enforcement to check tags.
The electronic system would see residents register two of their licence plates online free of charge, and request guest passes using a computer or smartphone.
“This isn’t a way of going out and saying let’s get as many tickets written as possible, this is a way of informing those who are going against the law that they shouldn’t be doing it,” said transportation committee chair Coun. Shane Keating.
Under the current rules, a person living in a residential parking zone gets two physical residential parking permits at no cost. Physical permits are placed in the rear window or on rear-view mirrors of vehicles, and parking is enforced by Calgary Parking Authority officers on foot.
Additional permits can be bought for $50, with annual and short-term visitor passes available by request.
The report says the CPA issued 34,700 permits in 77 residential parking zones last year. The CPA received more than 3,600 requests from residents to patrol time-controlled residential parking zones, with 70 per cent of the requests coming during daylight hours.
“The point is, they have the residential parking zones because there is an issue,” Keating said. “If there’s an issue, the best way we can deal with it is the easiest. So I see the ParkPlus system ... as a benefit, for sure.”
The report said implementing the digital system will make parking enforcement more efficient and allow the city to verify 30 per cent more tags.
While the report said bylaw amendments wouldn’t require additional signage or fees, tag revenue is expected to increase by $200,000 in 2018 and $400,000 in 2019. But the cost to implement the changes would cost around $400,000, with an additional $1,200 to $2,000 every year in maintenance costs.
Coun. Sean Chu echoed Keating’s comments, saying the electronic system will fix problems with enforcement and that increased revenue from tickets could be a “good side-effect.”
“We have all the laws, but if there’s no enforcement then what’s the point?” Chu said. “So, this way, it’s actually easy to enforce.”
Chu said he is in favour of moving to a digital system but said the overlap of electronic and physical permit systems could cause some confusion with residents.
“This is the digital age, everything’s going digital,” Chu said. “But the devil is in the details and how are we going to do it? ... However, the idea itself is a good idea.”
Keating raised concerns with shifting to only digital permits, suggesting it could be more efficient to use both electronic and paper permits.
The report recommends a roll out of the electronic tags for Aug. 1, and the system would be phased in over a one-year period to allow valid physical permits to expire.