Blitz boosts tickets by 260 per cent
School zone parking issues ‘will likely not have a quick fix,’ city official says
A crackdown on hazardous parking habits around Calgary schools has yielded a 260 per cent increase in tickets.
But there are doubts the blitz has yet to have the desired effect of discouraging offences that parking regulators and educators say pose a danger to younger students and others. In September, the Calgary Parking Authority handed out 302 tickets, mostly to guardians who were dropping off or picking up students at elementary or middle schools throughout the city.
Among the offenders were motorists blocking off driveways, stopping in intersections, double parking and occupying bus zones.
During the entire 2017-18 school year, the parking authority issued 838 such tickets, averaging about 84 each month.
The authority’s use of photo technology rather than relying on manual efforts is having an impact, said the authority’s manager of enforcement, Joan Hay.
“Each year, the Calgary Parking Authority receives many safety-related complaints about how people park in school areas and we have continued to hear from schools about the need for enforcement, which our photo enforcement technology is helping us address more effectively,” Hay said in a statement.
Even so, Hay said it’s a tough issue to tackle.
“Parking around schools is a challenging issue that will likely not have a quick fix,” she said.
“But our efforts to address these issues will continue and our goal remains to have people comply with the parking regulations which are important to the safety of the students attending these schools.”
The campaign, which began as a pilot project last June, was expanded for the current school year.
Last month, the traffic situation around Calgary Board of Education schools was described as problematic throughout the city and worsening, said Darlene Unruh, the board’s director for Area 2.
The head of one northwest community association called it “absolute mayhem.”
A southeast Calgary resident said motorists in the recent past have been so reckless around Copperfield School that “parents drove up on the sidewalks where children were walking to get around them.”
The resident, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution from students’ parents, said there have been no improvements so far and only apathy from school officials.
“Today I returned home to parents walking down the road in the traffic, despite sidewalks, with their kids, cars parked in the intersection blocking the school crosswalk, people parked on the corner, another did a U-turn in a controlled intersection by the school and flung his truck door open without regard for cars driving by,” said the person.
“And a woman parked in front of my driveway so that I could not get in — a typical day, really.”
The resident said only a more concerted effort by the parking authority and fences erected on a boulevard to stop people from jaywalking would improve matters.
While the public school board can’t gauge the effectiveness of the campaign, which is highly appreciated, “we know traffic congestion and parking continues to be an issue at many of our schools,” board spokeswoman Joanne Anderson said in a statement.
“Our principals work closely with their school communities and neighbours to help develop good driving and parking routines during these busy times.”
Fines for illegal parking in school zones is $75, a sum that can be reduced by early payment.