Toronto wants to streamline parking ticket disputes

City asking residents about a new system that would take parking ticket disputes out of the provincial court system.

Thestar.com
Oct. 22, 2015
By Luke Simcoe

Toronto wants to make it easier for you to resolve parking tickets.

Barry Randell, director of court services, said a new plan could remove parking ticket disputes from the provincial court system. Instead, anyone wishing to contest a ticket would meet with an impartial screening officer with the power to uphold at ticket, cancel it or reduce the fee.

“It would enable people to get a resolution in days rather than months,” Randell said.

The city is surveying residents about how they would like the new system to work. The survey is available online at toronto.ca and will be open until Oct. 30.

Under the current system, people who want to fight a ticket must book a court date and meet with a Justice of the Peace.

Historically, that’s meant waiting “several months, if not longer,” Randell said.

The new method - known formally as an Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) - has been implemented in municipalities including Brampton, Mississauga, Oshawa and Vancouver.

Since 2005, an estimated 250,000 parking tickets in Toronto have been contested. In a third of cases, Randell said drivers decide to simply pay their fine once they receive a court date.

“That’s just a waste of time and money,” he said. “And it delays the processing of more serious charges.”

Randell said the new system would be more convenient, while also preventing people from “gaming the system” by not showing up or hoping the bylaw officer who issued the ticket doesn’t either.

“People who get a lot of parking tickets ... won’t be able to run out the clock by relying on the courts,” he said.