Here are the early results of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority's ticket-by-mail program
The Pittsburgh Parking Authority's ticket-by-mail program is resulting in huge increases in the number of tickets issued and fines collected.
If a driver parks illegally in Pittsburgh, even for a matter of minutes, chances are they will get rung up and not even know it until they get a ticket in the mail.
And the reason behind it is the Pittsburgh Parking Authority's deployment of license plate scanner technology. Scanners atop enforcement cars can determine if parked cars have paid or haven't paid to park simply by driving by.
Cameras over those pink curbside smart loading zones can also trigger hefty fines. In the past year, the authority mounted 90-some cameras over the city's bike lanes. If drivers linger in one more than 90 seconds, they too will get a ticket in the mail.
"We've heard a lot from bike riders that's a big concern of theirs," Dave Onorato of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority said. "The safety intermixing bikes and vehicles is not a good thing in their minds. So, we're enforcing that."
All of those scanners and cameras have resulted in a huge increase in both tickets and revenues. Last year, the authority issued 310,000 tickets, an increase of more than 66,000 from the year before. With that, the authority collected $2 million more in enforcement revenues, which rose from $9.9 million to $11.9 million.
"It's just enforcing the rules that are set by the city council and the state," Onorato said.
The authority has spent millions on the technology, which is now blanketing the city. Onorato says while more revenue might be a side product, he says the reason behind the push is to increase safety for his employees and the public, which may learn the hard way the risks of parking illegally in the city.
"We want to see compliance go up and tickets go down," Onorato said.
But in the short term, tickets and revenues will only be going higher. The authority has just purchased more mobile scanners to begin enforcement Downtown, on the South Side and the Strip District. It is also mounting more cameras on its surface lots to increase enforcement.
The only recourse for offenders is to appeal their tickets at traffic court.
