How to avoid Toronto’s parking ticket hot spots
Hospitals, malls and universities top the list of highest parking ticket volume in 2015, city data shows.

thestar.com
May 15, 2016
By Oliver Sachgau

If you’re looking to avoid that parking ticket, you might want to stay clear of hospitals. Or malls. Or universities.

And if right now you’re thinking, “I’ll just park on a side street instead,” you might have another think coming.

Data of all parking tickets issued in Toronto in 2015, recently released by the city through its Open Data portal, shows the hotspots for parking enforcement haven’t changed much from previous years.

A little over 2 million tickets were issued last year, in line with previous years, with the most popular days falling in April and July. The highest ticket count fell on April 16 at 8,382 tickets.

As in previous years, Sunnybrook Hospital tops the list in sheer volume of tickets. More than 9,000 tickets, or roughly 25 a day, were issued at its 2075 Bayview Ave. address, more than 4,000 more than the next-highest address, 20 Edward St.

Many of the addresses topping the list, such as Sunnybrook, are not enforced by the Toronto Police Service, according to Brian Moniz, operations supervisor for parking enforcement west at TPS. Parking lots on private property, like those at shopping malls and hospitals, will get trained and licensed to enforce their own parking, which saves police resources.

“They would have the ability to enforce it on their property, as long as all our regulated requirements are met,” Moniz said.

Some of the addresses with high-ticket volume are close to urban hotspots. Edward St. is close to Yonge-Dundas Square, for example, while James St. is wedged between Old City Hall and the Eaton Centre.

For a public area like James St., Moniz said the issue is often parking that prevents police from getting access to the courthouse at Old City Hall.

“We have to ensure that there’s a free flow of traffic for the large prisoner vehicles that are coming in,” he said.

PARKING HOT SPOTS

From hospitals to malls and downtown hotspots, here are the addresses with the highest number of traffic tickets in 2015.

2075 Bayview Ave.

Tickets: 9,088

Total fined: $273,510

What’s nearby: Sunnybrook Hospital

Other: Sunnybrook Hospital, which monitors its own parking, far outstripped other addresses in the city, almost doubling any other for volume of tickets.

20 Edward St.

Tickets: 4,870

Total fined: $189,070

What’s nearby: Yonge and Dundas Sts.

Other: Right behind Yonge and Dundas, Edward St. might be a prime area for people hoping for close street parking to Yonge-Dundas Square and restaurants and shopping in the area. It also used to be the site of the World’s Biggest Bookstore, which closed in 2014.

3401 Dufferin St.

Tickets: 4,658

Total fined: $236,690

What’s nearby: Yorkdale Mall

Other: Like other malls and hospitals, Yorkdale enforces its own parking.

James St.

Tickets: 3,229

Total fined: $201,270

What’s nearby: Old City Hall, Eaton Centre

Other: Wedged right between the Eaton Centre and Old City Hall, James St. has very little street parking but is regularly patrolled by parking enforcement officers. Police sometimes need to park on the street to transfer prisoners to court.

1 Brimley Rd. South

Tickets: 3,184

Total fined: $384,740

What’s nearby: Scarborough Bluffs

Other: The bluffs are popular in summer and only street parking is allowed. Small wonder that things can get chaotic in the busier days.

103 The Queensway

Tickets: 3,062

Total fined: $93,820

What’s nearby: High Park

Other: It’s not clear what the pull is in this area. The address has a tall residential building, with High Park close by.

1265 Military Trail

Tickets: 2.930

Total fined: $99,340

What’s nearby: University of Toronto Scarborough

Other: The university campus enforces its own parking.

La Plante Ave.

Tickets: 2,840

Total fined: $121,790

What’s nearby: Toronto General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, Women’s College Hospital, University of Toronto St. George Campus

Other: The hospitals surrounding La Plante don’t have their own parking, which makes the street an attractive option for those visiting the hospitals and trying to park close by.

1090 Don Mills Rd.

Tickets: 2,797

Total fined: $643,970

What’s nearby: Shops at Don Mills

Other: The mall at Don Mills enforces its own parking. Out of all the addresses in the database, the shops had the highest revenue.

15 Singer Ct.

Tickets: 2,694

Total fined: $92,570

What’s nearby: North York General Hospital, IKEA

Other: This is not the address of the hospital, but close by. It’s possible crafty drivers using this area to park hare hoping to avoid hospital parking fees.