Baltimore Wants To Make Residential Parking Permits Virtual
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Parking Authority of Baltimore City is planning a pilot project to test a virtual parking permit system. The system should help make enforcement more efficient than using permit stickers.
Our media partners at The Baltimore Sun report that traffic enforcement officers would be able to use license plate readers to check if people are parked legally. The readers would allow the officers to work faster.
New license plate readers and handheld ticketing devices that could be synced to a live database of permitted license plates would have to be purchased. Baltimore City Department of Transportation senior adviser Frank Murphy says the cost hasn't been determined.
The city Department of Transportation is currently struggling with a shortage of officers and had a 15 percent decline in in residential parking tickets in the last three years.
The program would also allow residents to buy and renew their permits online. They currently have to visit the Parking Authority or community pick-up centers at churches, schools and libraries once a year.
The pilot program will debut this fall in the Ridgely's Delight neighborhood, located near Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
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