|
|
Curbside justice nets $80 million
|
Three courier companies
set pace with 34,000 parking tickets last year — one every four minutes
Toronto Star, June 17, 2007
By Andrew Chung
You have to watch closely for it, but every day a timeless
cat-and-mouse game unfolds on the streets of Toronto, one in which the
mice never learn their lesson, and the cats always bring in a big prize.
In this case, the mice are the hundreds of courier drivers who scurry
around the downtown core every day in their trucks and vans, getting
and delivering precious packages. The cats: the parking police.
Courier companies are Toronto's biggest parking violators. Of the top
five ticket recipients in 2006, three were international couriers:
Federal Express, United Parcel Service and Purolator.
The list, according to city records, was rounded out with two car
rental companies, but those violations were committed by individual
renters.
In 2006, the three couriers together compiled 33,716 tickets, worth
approximately $1.5 million. That's about 130 tickets every workday, or
roughly one ticket every four minutes during business hours.
But for the couriers, the fines are simply an unavoidable cost of doing
business. They have no intention of parking legally. The city has no
intention of halting the ticketing.
On a recent bright morning around Yonge and Bloor Sts., there were two
or three couriers parked on every block. Like Purolator's Ed Rushford.
When asked about the parking police, he sets down his parcels and
blinks through black-rimmed glasses. He disconcertingly resembles an
angry Michael Douglas in Falling Down.
"I've had more tickets in the last year and a half around here,"
seethes the 54-year-old, "than I have in the last 29 years."
He says police now "wallpaper" courier vans with tickets. "It makes us
look bad, those things flapping on the windshield. We're just trying to
make a living."
As he talks, two parking officers swish by on bicycles going in the
other direction. "It's not about parking," he continues. "It's about
revenue generation."
And the city does makes big cash on parking violations, about $80
million every year.
The couriers all know the parking police who work their neighbourhoods.
They know the easy-going ones, the mean ones. They text message each
other as to the whereabouts of the particularly overzealous cops.
Conversations between drivers and parking cops are often strangely
amicable, but sometimes there's tension. Rushford relates how, a few
days prior, he was approaching the end of his shift and had four
tickets already.
One young officer, whom he talks to regularly, walked by and didn't
ticket. When Rushford returned, however, a fresh, yellow violation
glared out from under his wiper. He confronted the officer, who,
according to Rushford, said he was "below his quota" for the day.
One Toronto officer, who asked not to be named, said there isn't an
explicit quota, but officers are expected to write 65 tickets each a
day.
"It's an uneasy relationship," Rushford explains. "It's like the bird
that cleans the crocodile's teeth."
He means that sometimes, the croc will let you go. Sometimes he'll bite.
"With the amount we pay," echoes UPS courier Corey Ferrara, 27, "this
country should be out of debt."
Of course, the drivers don't themselves pay. They bring the tickets
back and hand them over to the company to look after.
Drivers say they're not asked to find legitimate places to park. "The
company would lose more money if we had to wait to find parking," says
one FedEx driver who asked not to be named. "The packages would be
late."
Of the companies, only FedEx responded to questions, but wouldn't
discuss specifics. "We try to balance meeting the needs of our
customers, their reliable, on-time deliveries, with the traffic
restrictions in each city," says spokesperson Karen Cooper. "But in
very congested cities this is often difficult."
The companies, says Anthony Fabrizi, manager of the city's parking
operations, "treat tickets as well as anything else related to driving
around as a cost of doing business in Toronto."
In 2002, he says, the city adopted a "zero tolerance" policy between 7
a.m. and 7 p.m. toward parking on main arteries. This meant no mercy
for couriers.
In Toronto, the courier companies still come in each week with their
hundreds of tickets, Fabrizi says, "and literally flip through each
ticket" with staff, to see if there are any errors.
That's probably by necessity. Though a big business expense, the fines
aren't tax-deductible.
|
The fine points
2.8 million -
Total number of tickets issued each year in Toronto
1.9 million -
Number issued to drivers living in the 905 (that's 62 per cent of all
tickets)
78,000 -
Number issued to people out-of-province
33,716 -
Number issued to Fedex, UPS, and Purolator
$80 million -
Annual revenues from parking tickets
$1.5 million -
Revenue from the three most-ticketed companies
$30 - Average
fine
82 per cent -
Proportion of tickets the city actually collects on (others are
cancelled or lost in court)
$34,000 - The
amount one Toronto woman owes, giving her the dubious distinction of
the city's worst individual parking violator |
Letters to the editor:
June 19, 2007
Why is it that whenever fines are levied, the scofflaws involved whine
about being victims of a cash grab? In the case of unlawful parking,
the issue is compounded by the fact that many motorists view leaving
their vehicles wherever they choose as a victimless crime. But anyone
caught in gridlock knows the effect an abandoned vehicle has on traffic
flow in the downtown.
The courier drivers who were interviewed make it sound as though their
livelihood depends on inconveniencing the rest of the population in
this manner, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Increase the fines for these infractions to the point where it is
unprofitable for delivery companies to operate in such a self-serving
manner. The large courier firms would then be forced to use the more
sustainable delivery methods that local messenger firms have relied on
for more than a century.
Wayne Scott, Toronto
There are hundreds of couriers in Toronto working for smaller companies
and 99 per cent of them are brokers – i.e., they provide their own
vehicle and pay all of their expenses, including tickets.
As a retired courier, I know that going downtown with the potential to
make $200, and at the end of the day only making $120 because of two
$40 parking tickets, is very frustrating. The city allots space for
taxis to sit but makes no provision for couriers. Apart from a few
office towers with underground parking, the rest of the time you have
to run the gauntlet with parking control.
It is time the city issued permits to couriers for limited-time
parking. I'm sure most couriers would gladly pay $200 for a yearly
permit, but since that is only the equivalent of five tickets, why
would the city give couriers permission to park when they can make
millions by retaining the status quo?
So the silly game of hide-and-seek goes on and who really pays for all
of those tickets? The customer, of course, because the cost is built
into the courier charge.
David Lee, Mississauga
I am an unpaid volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. We are building 19
non-profit homes for low-income families at 4200 Kingston Rd. Because
there is no on-site parking available, we legally park one block away
on a couple of residential streets. However, we exceed the three-hour
limit for on-street parking and therefore receive parking tickets,
which must be paid out of our own pockets. (Did I mention that we are
unpaid volunteers?)
When we commenced this project in January, Habitat tried,
unsuccessfully, to receive consideration from the parking authority.
Local Councillor Paul Ainslie, a volunteer at this site, has recently
pleaded our case to the Toronto police parking enforcement unit, but,
we haven't heard anything further.
Where is compassion and common sense?
Paul Epton, Toronto
The city should step up its enforcement of illegally parked couriers a
notch. During rush hour, instead of just issuing a $60 parking ticket,
perhaps the city should now tow the trucks away. The cost of doing
business will suddenly skyrocket for them. Maybe then they will start
using the parking facilities provided at many buildings.
Ed Berlot, Toronto
Countless times I've been forced to cycle around these large courier
trucks, forcing me into the path of an unsuspecting motorist. Traffic
is stalled and the diversion is dangerous. They aren't just parking
illegally; these courier trucks are obstructing multiple lanes of
traffic. If the city wants to stop congestion and improve the safety of
its motorists and cyclists, greater action must be taken immediately.
Andrew Pifko, Toronto
Courier drivers need to get out more often
June 21, 2007
It's no surprise that three of the worst parking offenders are
international courier companies. They park their trucks in front of
office towers as pseudo-satellite offices with free billboard
advertising. Their drivers often spend a large amount of time in each
tower delivering on foot, while their trucks block traffic, create
gridlock and endanger other road users.
This practice is completely unnecessary. Unlike the local same-day and
emergency courier services, the large courier companies refuse to use
bicycle or foot couriers, who could complete the jobs much faster
without causing environmental damage or gridlock.
If the city were serious about its traffic and environmental problems,
it would tow the trucks rather than just ticket them. This would force
these companies to utilize more efficient and environmentally friendly
methods for deliveries.
The Toronto Bike Messenger Association has proposed a solution to the
city's transportation and parking woes through the application of a
"green zone" for deliveries in the downtown. This zone would make it
easier for courier companies to choose active transportation delivery
methods where appropriate.
Joe Hendry, Toronto Bike Messenger Association, Toronto
|
|
