Parking in Regina: Where, when and why you're getting tickets

Jay Gwilliam is fed up with parking in downtown Regina.

The resident and manager of O'Hanlon's Irish Pub said because of parking restrictions, he can't park in front of his house for more than 24 hours and can't keep his vehicle in the spots right outside the barfor more than two hours.

According to a CBC analysis, Gwilliam works along the most ticketed block in the city.

In 2015 and 2016, more than 5,300 white pieces of paper were slipped under people's windshield wipers along the west side of the 1900 block ofScarth Street.

If we had as many police downtown as we did parking enforcement people, we'd be the safest city in the world.- JayGwilliam

That's more than double the number of tickets issued for the second most ticketed block: The 1800 block of Cornwall Street, along the east side.

Data shows the most frequently ticketed blocks are all downtown.

In total, more than 143,300 tickets were handed out in 2015 and 2016 across the city.

Gwilliam said the analysis matches up with what he sees on a regular basis.

"If we had as many police downtown as we did parking enforcement people, we'd be the safest city in the world. They are everywhere. They're relentless," he said.

City says block isn'ttargeted

The city has nine parking officers that patrol downtown and seven that focus on suburban areas.

FaisalKalim, who manages parking enforcementfor the city, said the Scarth Street block isn't targeted by parking enforcement officers. He said the only time the city zeroes in on an area is if traffic flow could be disrupted, like on bus lanes during rush hours.

He said the frequency of tickets alongScarth Street is based on probability: There are justmore places to park compared to nearby blocks.

Compared with an average street downtown that has 30-50 parking spaces, the block along Scarth has 90 because it offers angledparking.

Coupled with the fact the block is lined with popular pubs and eateries, it's no surprise to see a high number of tickets,said Kalim.

What gets you dinged

Sean Thomson estimateshe has paid between $400 to $600 in fines in the past month and a half.

"It's my own stupidity. I mean, I park somewhere; I wait for it to go," he said."I could put more in the meter but sometimes you're just in a rush, you plug a few coins in, you think you're going to be out of there and that's just not the case."

Kalim saidthe most common reasons for parking tickets are letting a meter expire and parking on a residential block for longer than 24 hours.

He addedthat each year, the city receives about 13,000 requests for parking enforcement from residents.

"There's two sides to every parking ticket," he said.

"There's the person that got the ticket that's obviously upset and the other side is the person that maybe called or the person that wanted that bylaw enforced to ensure that they could find parking, they could see around a corner, they could have access to a fire hydrant."

Fines to rise July 1

Since 2012, the city has earned around $11 million in parking ticket revenue.

Kalim said the majority of tickets are paid voluntarily.

Starting July 1, ticket prices are slated to rise by $10, as was approved in the city's 2017 budget.

• Your taxes are now going up 6.5 %, Regina

Kalim maintainsthe fines are notabout revenue generation, but encouraging people to follow the rules.

"We're not unique in terms of how many tickets we issue for a municipality. The nature of on-street parking in general is that the only way to manage it efficiently is to have an enforcement piece," he said.

In 2014, city council hiked parking ticket fines, citing that residents and visitors were parking illegally because the financial consequences were low.

Kalim said that stiffer fines were introduced around the same time more parking enforcement officers were hired, so the cityhas not seen asignificantdrop in the number of tickets written. A dip in 2015, though, can be attributed to a policy shift towards more education and voluntary compliance, he said.

One driver,$50K in parking tickets

The city is currently missing $7million in revenue from unpaid tickets and has 200 liens registered against vehicles.

About $50,000 in fines is from one person who has received more than 500 tickets since 2014.

The city wouldn't disclose the identity of the individual.