More than 40 per cent of drivers appealed their parking tickets last year on the grounds of “hardship” and had their fines cancelled or reduced — a number that’s far too high, one city councillor says.
Coun. Stephen Holyday said the “striking” number makes him question how much of a deterrent parking tickets really are.
He told CBC Toronto he’s wondering what the impact will be, later this year, when the city takes over responsibility for adjudicating much more serious infractions like speeding and red light running.
“There’s got to be a penalty and a consequence,” Holyday said.
“The city has parking tickets to deal with things like congestion … but even more importantly, for safety considerations.”
The latest figures were presented to councillors during a recent meeting of council’s general government committee in the annual report of the Administrative Penalty Tribunal (APT), which has looked after appeals of all parking tickets since 2017.
Of the 21,000 cases it heard in 2023, the APT said, 8,600 were either reduced or cancelled outright due to “hardship.”
We’ve all been there. An appointment runs late, or you enter your licence plate wrong, and you return to your car to find the dreaded ticket under your wiper blade. If you complain about it enough, chances are that someone in your social circle will advise ignoring the ticket. But what happens if you do? And how much power do private parking companies have to enforce payment? That’s what we wanted to find out.
Hardship can be financial or medical, said Dianne Kasias, the city’s director of court services.
One parking ticket in 2023 cost could cost as much as $500, however of the 2.2 million issued last year, the majority range between $30 and $75, according to a report from city staff.
“It’s the cost of a tank of gas,” Holyday said. “It’s a question worth asking: How do you explain financial hardship on a $60 ticket? … On the surface, it just doesn’t seem logical.”
Calls to the APT by CBC Toronto have not yet been returned. But Kasias defended the tribunal’s record.
An Ontario family has been dealing with weeks of stress and frustration after their licence plate was stolen and more than $400 in parking tickets landed on their lap. As CBC’s Sarah MacMillan reports, they say the system was in no rush to help them.
Kasias said the tribunal’s 25 hearing officers are members of the public who are well trained and backed up by city support staff.
“They’re very well trained in mediation and adjudication,” she said. “When they’re chosen (by city council) it has to be someone who really understands city traffic policies and laws. Council, by appointing these members, affords them the ability to make those decisions (about whether to reduce a fine).”
Bylaws guide tribunal decisions, city says
Kasias said the grounds on which a fine can be reduced or cancelled are laid out in the city bylaw that governs the APT’s operation.
“For example, income, if that’s an issue, medical issues, anything related to other expenses,” she said. “This must be proven to the tribunal members either through a CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) notice of assessment, (or) some medical document.”
Kasias said: “The test is stringent in terms of what the tribunal members need to look at when making a decision.”
Holyday agreed the hearing officers need leeway to judge each case on its individual merits, but he suggested extending the time to pay a fine would be more appropriate than eliminating it all together.
“It’s not about the money,” he said. “This is a really important point in time. The tribunal is going to be considering appeals over red light camera tickets and automated speeding enforcement — It’s road safety issues, and in order to have people modify their behaviour, there has to be both enforcement and a consequence.”
Toronto is raising fines for 123 parking offences, including parking in a bike lane starting on Aug. 1. The city is hoping increased fines will reduce congestion and make streets safer, but advocates say there’s a lack of enforcement when it comes to parking fines.
Kasias said she’s confident the tribunal will be able to handle the amount of appeals as a result of taking over the processing the estimated 580,000 red light and automated speeding tickets that Toronto generates annually. They’re expected to be added to the tribunal’s workload in December.
“Currently we’re OK with the 25 members,” she said. “We will keep an eye on the volume.”
Because it’s more efficient, Kasias said, more infractions are being moved from the courts to the city’s APT. She said the average time it takes to have an appeal heard has been reduced from 257 days in the court system to just 65 days at the APT.