Parking Wars; PPA to photograph license plates of violators

Philadelphia ticket writers will soon be armed with a new scofflaw-tracking device: a camera.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority says its ticket writers will begin photographing the license plates of parking violators in an effort to address complaints from residents – and out-of-towners - who get notices of violations and say they were never in Philadelphia on the day the tickets was issued.

The news came out during questioning by lawmakers at a joint House/Senate transportation committee hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg. Several suburban Philadelphia lawmakers - and one from as far away as Pittsburgh - said their constituents have complained about getting tickets and threats of enforcement even though they were many miles away at the time.

Parking Authority deputy executive director Corinne O'Connor says while the number of complaints about wrongful tickets has dropped in recent years, the cameras will help establish whether in fact it was the violator's car. She also said only about half of all license plates of illegally parked cars will be photographed based on the type of violation.

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