GEEK EDITOR’S NOTE: Our friend Ticketmaster is a Parking Enforcement Aide (PEA) for the city of Chicago Dept. of Revenue.

Ticketmaster has been pounding the pavement of the streets of Chicago, and issuing those darn bright orange violations for many years. Ticketmaster very graciously, answers questions from readers and share their knowledge and experience within the parking enforcement system to give our readers insight and information to hopefully avoid tickets altogether.

Dear Ticketmaster,

Okay, more and more parking meters are getting pulled out and replaced by one pay station per block.

Question: say I am older and don’t walk particularly fast. Furthermore say it is either raining or there is snow on the curb that makes it a bit more difficult to walk on the sidewalk.

I park at the end of a block, notice there is no meter, then find the sign that says I have to locate the pay station. Now the interesting part. It could take almost five minutes or more for me to walk down half the block, locate the pay station, figure out how to use the darn thing, get my ticket, walk back to the car and put the ticket on the dashboard. This is five minutes during which an enforcement agent might put a ticket on my car.

What is the legal status of this ticket?

Thanks.

Stuart

Hello Stuart,

That is a very good question, and one of our (PEA’s) concerns, when we enforce on blocks with the the “pay and display” system. When we do come across a vehicle without a valid receipt being displayed, obviously we will issue a ticket, now a good PEA while issuing the citation will take a look at the Pay Box and see if anyone is by it attempting to buy time. If not, obviously a ticket will be issued.

Now in your case (and it does happen in the winter time more often, happened to me three times last month and two times so far this month),  as long the PEA or CPD officer reasonably believed that the vehicle was in violation, the ticket was valid. Now, here is where you have an advantage. Your receipt is time stamped, and if the ticket was generated by an Autocite (the handheld ticketing computer/printers the PEA’s use), then it will be time stamped as well.

Any reasonable hearing officer can look at the two time stamps and should be able to make a correct decision.

What can you do to help save yourself the headache.

1) Look around before you leave your car, and see if you can see a ticket writer. If you do, let us know, that you are going to feed the pay box and bring the receipt right back. That is the best thing to do.

2. If you can afford it, (and it is a great device. Made an excellent birthday gift for the wife) buy the ParkMagic (an in-car meter–it’s like I-Pass for parking) device. Call an 800#, add the time, and enjoy the time away from your car.

3.  If you do get a ticket, contest it, and when you win, take knowledge in the fact that you beat the system, and you made some poor ticket writer look incompetent.

Kind Regards,

Ticketmaster

Dear Ticketmaster,

I would like to know if most parking tickets in Chicago are issued by Police officers or Parking Enforcement Aides?

And finally are most parking tickets issued by PEA’s in commercial areas where as parking tickets issued by Police in residential areas?

Please let me know. Thank you.

Max

Hello Max,

1. Parking Enforcement Aides write more tickets than CPD. Which is the way it should be. While the PEA’s are writing the tickets, CPD can be out there catching criminals and protecting our streets.

2. We are like the CPD. We are city wide. We are everywhere.

Kind Regards,

Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster,

I received a ticket for parking my pickup on the street in the 2000 block of N. Oakley. This location is clearly in the 32nd ward.

Section 9-64-170 (a) states that pickup trucks and vans are excepted in a group of wards, the 32nd included.

What gives? Don’t they train the ticket writers to follow the law? Slow day/night? Below quota, so just write some bogus ones, maybe they will stick?

David

Hello David,

Yes, the DOR does train us. We also follow the law. Sure management wants a high ticket count, however it is not about quantity, but quality.

As an example:  A PEA who only writes 30-40 tickets with 99% tickets sustained is much more valuable than someone who writes over a 100 tickets with only 50% sustained.

Not only does the higher quality provide more revenue, it also provides a better image of a good worker who takes pride in their work.

Now in your case for your truck parked in the 32nd ward, what you have failed to notice, and if you have read on, it does state 9-64-170 (a) states that pickup trucks and vans are excepted in a group of wards, if the appropriate permit is displayed..

Here is the link to the City Clerks website hopefully it will be able to help answer any further questions that you may have.

Kind Regards,

Ticketmaster

Again, more awesome info from Ticketmaster.

If you have a question for Ticketmaster, please send your questions to either:

askthepea@theexpiredmeter.com or ticketmaster@theexpiredmeter.com