About 600 fewer downtown visitors have found unpleasant surprises tucked under the windshield wipers of their cars this year.
City of Kamloops community-safety manager Jon Wilson said to date the number of parking tickets issued downtown has dropped by approximately 600, with most of the decrease begin recorded via fewer expired meter tickets.
Last year, the city issued 19,739 tickets citywide.
Wilson said he attributes at least some of the drop to three-hour parking, which was introduced when the city rolled out the first of its new solar-powered parking meters in late 2013.
“There used to be a two-hour limit, so a lot of people would get caught,” Wilson said.
“They needed more than two hours, whereas now, with a three-hour limit, they have the amount of time they need to do their shopping and their activities downtown.”
Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association general manager Gay Pooler said her organization is celebrating the decrease in parking tickets, which it also attributes to the new three-hour limit, as well as the new pay-by-licence-plate technology.
“People are finding it more convenient to pay and not get a ticket,” she said.
“We’ve extended the time and people can pay anywhere — say you’ve walked up to Hello Toast for lunch and, all of a sudden, you go, ‘Oh, I need to put more time on my meter.’ They can walk outside and use the meter that’s right there, even though your car’s three blocks away.”
Pooler said reducing the number of tickets issued downtown was one of her organization’s initial goals when it lobbied for the new pay kiosks and the option to purchase a third hour of parking time at a premium ($2 instead of $1 per hour).
“We don’t want our customers getting tickets,” she said. “Nobody likes getting tickets.”
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