Daniel Fortune’s truck was towed Thursday because he parked on private property.
Fortune, who has received many tickets, has been finding alternate places to park since the implementation of the park-and-ride fee at city transit lots because he doesn’t want to pay.
“Sometimes I don’t have change. I’ll take the ticket because I can pay it at a later date.”
Fortune isn’t the only one.
Since the beginning of 2009, the Calgary Parking Authority has issued 26,494 parking tickets for illegally parking on private property and is on pace to reach approximately 53,000 tickets.
If this trend continues, Calgary Parking Authority general manager Dale Fraser said that it would be a 18 per cent jump from 44,807 tickets in 2008.
“(The rise) is largely due to parkers trying to avoid the new fare zones including transit,” said Fraser.
Fraser said property owners are more aware of illegal parking. He said the parking authority has added patrols since the fees were implemented and a third photo enforcement vehicle.
