New York’s Parkers Owe $500M to the City4 min read
Yes, you read that right! New York’s parkers owe over $500 million the city in parking violations, and it doesn’t look like anyone’s in a hurry to pay up.
How Deep Does the Rabbit Hole Go?
Most violators are easy to catch, but subtle serial offenders often skirt around the parking rules in an already swarming city. These include individuals with license plates registered out of state and high-profile officials. These categories make it difficult to slap fines.
Moving on, in Midtown Manhattan, where finding ample parking is notoriously difficult, trucks and other vehicles park in bike lanes. Cars also end up double parking often as the drivers quickly sprint out to bodegas to buy supplies. Afterward, they jog back to their vehicle, hoping they haven’t gotten a ticket.
Since the space crunch which causes parking violations is a widespread problem, the police sometimes turn a blind eye to violators.
New Yorkers who purchase and drive their vehicles from neighboring states dodge hefty insurance premiums, flout parking norms, and avoid paying high city taxes. Unfortunately, the city’s parking authorities have no policy in place to tackle these offenders.
As per data, one of the biggest “out-of-state” offenders is a distinguished white truck with Indiana license plates, which has racked up a staggering total fine of $126,355. Another white refrigerated truck, this time with a Minnesota license plate, has racked up total fines worth $1,26,355 by repeatedly parking in bike lanes and double parking in midtown Manhattan.
Who owes the most money to New York in parking fines?
The costliest parking violators aren’t from New York at all. If you look at the data, the costliest offender is the vehicle of an Egyptian diplomat that has run up total fines worth $223,265.
In total, all Egyptian diplomatic cars with their country’s code on the license plate owe New York city a whopping total of $2,014,944 in parking violations.
Next come the Indonesian diplomatic vehicles, running up fines worth $770,663.85 in unpaid parking tickets. And finally, the Russian diplomatic vehicles come third with overdue fines nearing $100,000.
The total number all diplomatic vehicles owe the city in parking violations will stun you as it stands at 15.7 million.
Also Read: This University Lets Parking Violators Pay with Peanut Butter
No Way Out
As things stand today, there are no quick measures in place to collect the millions owed in parking violations. It’s complicated to collect fines from foreign nationals and individuals that own an “out-of-state” vehicle.
Even though the police keep slapping parking tickets on parking violators, they simply don’t pay or only pay their fines right before they are summoned to court. Matters escalating that far is a glacial process, by which time the city has already lost tons of money – funds that could be used to improve the commuting and parking infrastructure within the city.
The New York State Comptroller’s Report also observed a pattern of inaction from parking reinforcement. It outlines that relevant authorities need to make more effort to collect fines. For example, out of a sample size of 153 unpaid fines worth $2.2 million, the finance department only went after 35 cases.
Additionally, the practice of subsidizing wealthy entities like UPS, FedEx, Verizon, and others must be suspended. Due to discounts extended in parking ticket fees, these corporations end up hulking delivery trucks in prohibited zones and getting away with it by paying a substantially discounted fine.
All in all, the city’s parking reinforcement authorities must adopt a more aggressive approach. Meanwhile, the finance department must come up with hefty policies to curb violations and amp up collections.
Smart parking can solve the problem.
Introducing smart parking systems would be the easiest way to keep track of every parker in the city. If parking in popular public destinations is automated and offered through an app, citizens would find it easier to find and pay for parking. It simultaneously reduces the need to violate parking norms and makes it easier for authorities to track down offenders if any. Several cities in Europe have implemented smart parking software for their most populated areas to reduce congestion, improve enforcement and provide easy payment for parking.
With an award-winning smart parking platform like Get My Parking, you can automate parking in your locations and offer your services through a custom-branded parking app. Set up touchless access in your locations and manage your parking business with a powerful admin dashboard that provides real-time reports on all your sessions and transactions.
