If you were one of the many people who paid for parking using your Green P app and still received parking tickets in Toronto’s Cabbagetown recently, you may have room to dispute it.
CityNews uncovered a big mix-up over Green P parking location numbers on a stretch of Parliament Street between Carlton and Gerrard streets, thanks in part to viewer James Tupper who reached out to Speakers Corner.
“This was a major mistake, I don’t know what they were thinking,” said Tupper.
He’s been visiting a well-known establishment for years on Parliament and has used his Green P app to pay for parking.
“I’ve parked here for at least 20 years using the same number, 5337. That’s the number it has always been.”
But back in May, he started to get tickets after using that number.
“I thought initially the parking officer wasn’t using his machine and then I noticed the sign had a new and different number.”
The parking location ID posted was changed to 5374 on some of the machines, so Tupper began using the new ID and saw a discrepancy.
“If you put in 5374, the app shows it is for Front Street East which is nowhere near this location,” he told CityNews. “I don’t know what they did here but something isn’t right.”
Even more confusing, some of the parking meters had both numbers posted — the new one, and the old one patrons like Tupper had been using.
“So if someone comes now, they’re not going to know what number to put in, it is so frustrating.”
Tupper has called the City, the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) and Toronto Police Service to report the confusion.
“And just crickets,” he said.
He reached out to Speakers Corner and one hour after we contacted the Toronto Parking Authority, a technician came out to fix the mistake.
“You guys called and they came and took the stickers off,” Tupper said.
Our cameras were rolling as the technician began peeling off the 5374 location ID stickers, leaving behind the original number of 5337.
“Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) has inspected the location of concern and has confirmed a discrepancy between the signage and the Green P app,” a spokesperson told CityNews.
As for why the mistake happened, the TPA did not say but they apologized to anyone — like Tupper — who may have received tickets erroneously.
“Should customers have a concern about a PVN [Parking Violation Notice], they can visit toronto.ca/aps for more information. TPA operations staff regularly review and calibrate payment and signage information, and work to address inconsistencies, if identified.”
Tupper is now in the process of disputing the tickets he received but is left frustrated his several calls to city staff didn’t produce any action.
“As soon as the media does something, that’s when the city does something,” he said. “Every regular citizen like me, we complain and nothing ever happens.”
He is still waiting to hear if the tickets he received will be forgiven.
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