When Chicago Parking Meters, LLC issued a press release yesterday enumerating the positive steps they’ve taken in the past year to improve Chicago’s parking meter system, one item stood out.

The “automatic parking ticket dismissal” listed in the release, was something that had not been announced previously.

Before now, the policy has been that if you park at a malfunctioning parking meter, you call to report the meter in question,  you’re given a reference number and still allowed to park. If you are issued a meter violation,  you contest it using the reference number as proof the meter was malfunctioning and the the ticket should be dismissed.

While still a bit of work, one had reasonable confidence this system would make your ticket go away.

But now, it seems CPM and the city are trying to take this process one step further.

According to Ed Walsh, spokesperson for Chicago’s Department of Revenue, parking tickets written at inoperable meters in some cases being non-suited or dismissed without the vehicle owner having to contest the ticket at all.

“A ticket must be issued at a meter that has wirelessly reported being inoperable in order for the ticket to be withdrawn,” said Walsh via e-mail. “Again, the dismissal program is limited to events wirelessly reported by the pay box. Consequently, motorists who park at a broken meter should still report the meter to CPM’s customer service line at 877.242.7901. Although the tickets are withdrawn regardless of whether a contest is on file, motorists should still contest any ticket issued in error.”

According to Walsh, the program has been in place since mid-August and so far, has automatically “dismissed” 92 improper meter violations.

While 92 withdrawn violations may seem low on its’ face, one must consider that the technology behind these new pay boxes allows the units to warn technicians of impending maintenance issues (low battery, low paper, too many coins, etc.) before a pay box goes down completely. The reliability of these machines, under normal circumstances, is relatively high compared to earlier generation parking meters.

And, while Parking Enforcement Aides (PEA) are advised to check if a meter is working before issuing a ticket, and the new system seems to be working well so far, Walsh encourages all motorists to contest any improper tickets just to be safe.

“If ticketed in error, motorists should still also contest the ticket,” reiterated Walsh.  ” Motorists can, however, determine if a ticket has been dismissed prior to submitting a challenge or requesting a hearing by visiting cityofchicago.org/revenue or calling 312.744.PARK.”