Meter-Made
Toronto, ON
Female, 30
I currently work as a Parking Enforcement Officer in the wonderful city of Toronto. I am feared, and loathed by all. I may not work in your particular city, but I'm positive that I can help give you a better understanding of what Meter Maids do. I am knowledgeable in all parking matters so ask me anything.
I don't think anyone wishes to be a meter maid when they grow up. Neither do I. I simply see this job as a stepping stone for a future in law enforcement. In Toronto, the Parking Enforcement Unit is part of the Toronto Police Service, and therefore a great way to gain an internal role within the service. I don't know if any of my coworkers find this job emotionally fulfilling, as I find it quite draining. This job is simply a job. Parking Officers are required in order to ensure that traffic flows safely and to answer the parking complaints of the public. It can be fulfilling at times, when you help someone remove an unwanted vehicle from... Read More +
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I don't know why that rule is in place, you would have to take that up with your city councilors. The main issue is that people assume that if a pay machine is broken they get free parking. In reality, they can walk a few paces down the street and use the next available machine. Of course, this can only happen with pay and display machines and on a street that has more than one machine. I'm sure that a lot of people feel the same way you do, hence the creation of the online dispute process.
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Parking officers don't carry any weapons in the city of Toronto. To the best of my knowledge they never have.
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There are numerous parking bylaws in existence. There are a handful that we actually enforce on a regular basis. There are two really ridiculous parking bylaws that technically can be enforced, but we choose not to. The first is displaying a `for sale` sign in your parked vehicle on city streets. The second is washing your car on city streets as well. I`m sure there was a reason for these byalws long ago, but like I said, we choose not to enforce them. I`m sure there are other ridiculous bylaws, but I can`t seem to think of anymore at the moment.
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I would be pretty difficult to spot a forgery on a pay and display receipt, simply because we don't actually get to see them up close. I have seen people try to use receipts from previous years, months etc. but fake slips have never seemed to be an issue in Toronto. I feel that it would be easy to spot a fake, simply because they might miss a vital piece of information that is on a slip, like the day of the year or the street that it was purchased from. Whoever has the patience to sit and make a slip for every area they will be visiting in a day would have a lot of spare time on their hands. It would take more effort to make a forgery than... Read More +
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Your tax paying dollars don't actually pay for our salaries. We pay our own salaries with the revenue we make from issuing parking tickets.
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If you are parked at an actual parking meter (not a pay and display machine) and it it out of order, you will more than likely get a ticket. In Toronto, the bylaw clearly states that no one should park next to a broken meter. If you are parked near a pay and display machine, and it is not in working order, the same rule applies, but you may use any machine on that given street to purchase a receipt. If you are on a street that only has one pay and display machine, it might be best to find parking elsewhere. There really is no such thing as free parking in larger cities like Toronto, so when in doubt, don't park there at all. We are not responsible... Read More +
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