Toronto councillors eye mobile-only parking pilot project, revised fines

Toronto councillors are eyeing a change tohow the citycharges peoplefor municipal parking, as well as changes to how much people get fined if they violate parking bylaws.

Councillorsgreenlit acity staff request for amobile-only parking pilot program during Wednesday's infrastructure and environment committee meeting.

The committee's chair,Coun. Jennifer McKelvie, says paying by mobile isa convenient option that more and more people rely on to navigate the city.

"Most people aren't carrying cash anymore," she said.

In a report earlier this month, the city said transactions on the city's Green P app grew from 49 per cent of all customer transactionswhen it was introduced in 2016 to over 75 per centthis year, with a total of 1.6 million subscribers. Meanwhile,the report found the trend led to a corresponding decrease in the number of peopleusing traditional pay and display parking machines.

However, some caution against a wide-spread transition to cashlesstransactions. Adam Rodgers, a residentspeaking in front of the committee, said the move can exclude seniors and people in lower-income brackets.

"There are many groupsof folks in our community that rely on cash options topay andwe should keep that in mind whenever doing any mobile-only option," said Rodgers.

Coun. Josh Matlow(Toronto - St. Paul's) echoed Rodgers' concerns in a letterto the committee.

"I hope that if you select to move this pilot forward and as we continue to modernize our parking infrastructure, careful steps are taken to ensure that no one is left behind and that a reasonable accommodation is provided," wrote Matlow.

The pilot project will now go before city council for approval. If approved,13 out of over 1,000 paid parking spots in the city will be part of the projectfor up to one year. According tothe parameters set bycity staff andcitycouncillors, the selected areas must have high Green P app usage, have parking meter equipment nearingend of life thatcan't be replaced, have a low ratio of parking spots to parking meters, and/or be in the downtown core.

City staff say people can pay through the app, bytext, or byscanning a QR code. They sayall locations will be marked by signage, and for the duration of the pilotwill be close to traditional payment methods where someone can paywith credit card or with coins if needed.

Revise fines to deter illegal parking, committee says

The committee also directed staff to look intorevised penalty amounts for parking tickets andreport back to the committee in January.

Currently, a person who doesn't pay for parking or who stays beyond their allotted time only pays $30. City staff say that amount hasn't increased in over a decade.

Coun. Dianne Saxe (University-Rosedale) moved the motion, saying the current fine is "enormously out of date," especially in comparison to other fines.

"You pay a fine of over $400if you're caught getting on the TTC without a ticket," said Saxe. "It's unfair."

The fines are also "completely ineffective" at deterring illegal behaviour, she said, since a fine can often be cheaper than paying for commercial parking or the city's parking meter. And when people do break the law, she says it's important they pay a proportionate fine especially given the grim state of the city's finances.

"Allowing the abuse of our public space in this way is self defeating and it's an easy thing to fix," said Saxe.