Halifax vehicle owners rack up $225K in parking ban tickets this winter
More than just snow is accumulating as a result of this year's winter storms. Fines from overnight parking ban enforcement are piling up, too.
The city has issued nearly $225,000 worth of tickets so far this year. To date, the ban has been enforced 19 times — four more times than last year.
According to data provided by Halifax staff, 4,494 winter parking ban tickets were issued at $50 each so far this winter.
The city issued 710 parking tickets during two parking bans in February alone.
Total revenue unclear
The overnight winter parking ban comes into effect Dec. 15 and runs until March 31. It is only enforced during serious winter weather or to allow snow-clearing machines to move freely through the area.
Spokeswoman Tiffany Chase said total revenue from this winter's bans is hard to calculate at this time.
"We couldn't break out the total revenue specifically from these tickets as it goes into general parking ticket revenue," she said in an email to CBC News.
"Also, some may remain unpaid, and some tickets are disputed. If a ticket is successfully disputed, it is cancelled."
Comparisons
Last year, a total of 4,759 parking ban tickets were issued after the ban was enforced 15 times. During the harsh winter of 2014-2015, more than 12,000 tickets were issued after the ban was enforced 47 times.
The winter parking-ban zone covers a large area. Head of St. Margarets Bay, Timberlea, Eastern Passage and Beaver Bank roughly make up its perimeter.
The city has been working to widen streets, clear sidewalks and dig out fire hydrants buried by two powerful storms that hit the Maritimes last week.
Both police and contracted security company, G4S, issue parking ban tickets for the Halifax Regional Municipality.
