D A H L I A
  • HOME
  • PODCAST
  • SPEAKER
  • VIDEOS
  • NATIONAL SHOW
  • DAHLIA
    • DIARY
    • PORTFOLIO
    • NEW BOOK
  • BOOK DAHLIA

The City Slipped a Roofie in my Meter

4/27/2010

12 Comments

 
Picture
It all starts innocent enough.

“Come, hang out! Have a good time.”

You go. You eat. You drink. Have a fun night out.

Next thing you know, you’ve been violated – by the city of Toronto.

The city slipped a roofie in my meter.

A classic date-rape drug.

I should have seen the signs. But, I played the part of the naïve schoolgirl:

I’m a big girl. I’ve paid for parking before. I know how it goes. You only need to pay up until 9pm. After that it’s free!

Yup, a freebie – for the city.

As it turns out, most parking spots in Toronto are free after 9pm. But some, in areas such as the entertainment district for example, require you to pay up until midnight.

So while you’re at the club, the theatre, or doing things that typically take you past 9 o’clock at night, the city is hoping you didn’t notice this slight variant in parking policy. In fact, it is banking on it.

According to City of Toronto Revenue Services, in 2006, Toronto issued 2,852,100 parking tickets. This increased each following year: 2,888,234, in 2007 and 2,902,929 in 2008.

By the end of 2010, it is estimated that 3 million parking tickets will be issued. This in a city of about 6 million people, where not everyone has a car or driver’s license.

And here’s an interesting tidbit of trivia to use at a party – or heck, when talking to your city councillor…
Picture
The top-10 locations in the city, where you can find a parking ticket on your windshield are almost all by hospitals and universities.

King Street West (among others) received an honourable mention as one of the ticketing hotspots in Toronto, which is where I got crowned last night.

Each year, busy meter maids and butlers help the city collect about $80 million in revenue from these tags.

And what perhaps does this, let’s be honest, “tax” on drivers go towards?

Removing lanes on University Avenue, a busy city artery, to create two cycling lanes. (While a useless boulevard already occupies another two lanes worth of traffic, and an oversized sidewalk lies cluttered with nature’s finest-issue concrete plant holders.)

Or, paying a severance of $167,769.94 to a mayor because he has chosen not to run for re-election.

Or, paying a severance to each retiring city councillor – whether he or she quits or gets ousted: One month's salary ($8301.63), multiplied by the number of years of service.

Or maybe it just goes to the meter maids’ salary. After all, when those meter maids clean up, and hit or exceed quota so vehemently, they deserve it.

Of course, the city will never say that the tens of millions of dollars collected each year are fiscally relevant or even affect its operating budget. These fines are simply put in place to help deter parking violations and ensure a smooth flow of traffic.

Yes, as smooth as traffic on a main artery reduced by two lanes.

Still, Toronto cries poverty over parking tickets.

A recent Toronto Star article revealed the city cancelled about 860,000 parking tags in 2007 and 2008. For a city that is not looking for any “gains” from tickets, it seems really concerned with this resulted “loss” of $35 million.

There are ways to fight your ticket in Toronto, and when fought, 25 per cent of the time payment is evaded. Though, only a few per cent of people challenge the city.

Not enough people are aware of their rights.

But, even for those who are aware of their rights, it can be a wrong decision to fight the ticket.

How often do we avoid exercising our rights (or shopping skills) to avoid the parking issues we face?

You can just imagine all the poor shlubs who took a day off work to fight the ticket and fight the line at court. Hope they took the (overpriced) subway.

Picture
Of the cancelled tickets, councillor Doug Holyday who chairs the audit committee says, "It's too much and it's not fair. …It means some people who should be paying for their mistakes are not being held accountable."

The councillor is correct.

It is too much.

It is not fair.

People who should be paying for their mistakes are not being held accountable; rather, they are holding our accounts receivable.

There’s an upcoming civic election. Let’s use the meters to measure our politicians.

My ticket came with a $30 price tag, but the lesson that has now come from it is priceless.

So remember, just like you should never take an open drink from someone you don’t know, you should never take a Toronto meter for granted.

You may get violated.

12 Comments
toronto newcomer
4/27/2010 09:52:19 am

i agree with what you write.the more money the city steals the more it spends

Reply
farfel magnolius
4/27/2010 01:19:07 pm

As usual, another witty and
informative blog from dahlia
kurtz....she's good!
She's gota ticket to write :-)

Reply
dahlia
4/27/2010 02:09:14 pm

TN: exactly... and the problem isn't that it spends... it is how it spends... spends the money that "steals"

FM: cute. thank you.

Reply
Mayor of Canada
4/28/2010 01:16:13 am

Toronto is super evil!!! It might be the worst place on earth. All the other cities in Canada are super awesome amazing and can do no wrong.

Reply
dahlia
4/28/2010 02:37:02 am

mayor...

congrats on being the mayor of canada... i do believe you are the first.

Reply
Mayor of Canada
4/28/2010 03:02:30 am

Thank you. It was hard work. I grew up in downtown Canada. It's a rough place.

Reply
dahlia
4/28/2010 03:19:52 am

inspirational. i should do a story on you one day...
our country's mayor: from hardcore canada to the core of canada

Reply
Sadness
4/30/2010 08:14:44 am

It's sad.... how we citizens work so hard for this province just to be penalized for wanting to enjoy it's resources. Shame on them! The rich keep taking from the poor......

Reply
dahlia
4/30/2010 09:26:49 am

sadness: well put.

Reply
joe gnu
5/1/2010 03:29:50 pm

the city taxes and my debt maxes

Reply
Ron
12/17/2010 02:16:14 am

For just $10, www.parkingtickets.ca will submit notice of a request for trial with the courts.

Considering the inconvenience of having to take time off to go to court, find a parking spot, pay for said spot (or risk getting another ticket - oh, the irony), etc., etc., the $10 fee is a bargain.

I used the service once and never had to pay for the parking ticket, so yes, I am a satisfied customer :)

Reply
dahlia link
12/17/2010 02:21:11 am

wish i would've known about that before i paid for the ticket. thanks, ron.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2021
    February 2021
    March 2020
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    September 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    September 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010

DAHLIA
Live And HELP Live
National Talk Show Host | Podcaster | Digital Entrepreneur | Speaker 
Writer | RIghter .
Copyright © 2023 DahliaKurtz.com
  • HOME
  • PODCAST
  • SPEAKER
  • VIDEOS
  • NATIONAL SHOW
  • DAHLIA
    • DIARY
    • PORTFOLIO
    • NEW BOOK
  • BOOK DAHLIA