In case Wheels is the only section of our fine paper/web site you read, you should know that our Jack Lakey, a.k.a. 'The Fixer', has been following an interesting aspect of Toronto's parking world. Read about it here.
Maybe you all knew this, but I didn't - that according to Toronto's own web site, there's a five-minute grace period for certain 'time-limited' parking offences, such as meters or pay-and-display parking zones.
The Toronto Police Service Parking Enforcement Unit won't issue a ticket if you're less than five minutes over the time limit.
Plus, there's a separate administrative policy that if the ticket is issued within ten minutes of the limit, you can apply to have the ticket cancelled.
You can read the policy here. It might help if you've had some law training.
Note that there are exceptions to the grace period policy. You can't overstay your welcome on major arterial roads in rush hours, or violate the snow-clearing policy.
And, it doesn't mean you can park for free for the first five minutes either...
Jim,
So confusing...In Rome you can buy a monthly pass which entitles you to park in any municipal parking spot (not barrier-free/Handicapped spots)for 24 hours at a time. There is no guarantee that a spot will be available. It kind of makes sense, pay one fee, no more worries about tickets, meters running out and when your "time" is up.
This would require less enforcement than the present system and may actually increase revenue because people are paying based on need, not on use, so they could issue more permits than parking spots.
The fee is, about $100/month, but heck, here in good old TO I'd pay $200 just for the peace of mind.
Posted by: Paul Gargaro | May 09, 2013 at 09:41 AM