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3 On Your Side: Parking Meter Investigation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Trying to find an open parking spot in Philadelphia is often an effort in futility. So on a recent trip into Center City, Jackie and Henry Geis thought it was their lucky day!

"Henry saw the parking meter open so he pulled right in," said Jackie.

But the couple says that they didn't get the time they paid for.

When they got back to their car Henry said, "I see the ticket on the window, and I said a few words that I can't say now."

The meter had expired. Now they had to pay $26 bucks! "It just burned me up," said Henry.

But attorney Chuck Pascal says hold on!

"I found a law that was passed in 1996 that said that all things that had to do with time or weight had to be certified," said Pascal.

Several years ago, Pascal challenged hundreds of parking tickets issued in western Pennsylvania because the meters weren't certified as required by state law.

A judge agreed and threw the tickets out!

"It's a consumer protection issue that says that people are going to get what they paid for, just like they should get the amount of gasoline they pay for at the pump and the amount of meat they get at the grocery store," said Pascal.

In Philadelphia, while the Parking Authority collects the revenue and issues tickets, the City's Licenses and Inspections Department is actually responsible for certifying the meters for accurate timing. By law, each meter is to be tested at least once every three years.

"Has your department tested every parking meter in the city within the past three years?" I asked Deputy Commissioner Dominic Verdi. "No," he replied. So how many have they inspected? The Deputy Commissioner wasn't clear, saying "The exact number I don't have in front of me."

But we know, after 3 On Your Side reviewed the inspection reports ourselves. Out of 14,500 meters, only around 2,000 have been tested and certified for timing from 2005 through 2007, that is less than 15 percent!

Verdi blames lack of man power, L&I only has one inspector assigned to that job.

"There is no way possible for us to handle all of those meters," said Verdi.

But when we checked, we found some meters were being checked time and time again! A meter on South 9th Street was tested at 11 a.m. one morning and approved, then hours later it was tested again, and approved again!

When I asked Verdi if the inspector was clueless, he just shrugged.

Then there is the situation we found on Ridge Avenue, a meter was tested and approved eight times last year, and it happened in other places too!

I asked Verdi if that sounded suspicious, he replied, "It sounds suspicious to me, yes. The information that you're giving me now will be investigated to the fullest."

And out of all those inspections, not one meter failed! After paying their ticket, the Geises' are skeptical.

Jackie said "It's not the $26, it is the principle of it. How many people are getting ripped off and paying a fine that they shouldn't have to pay?"

The Philadelphia Parking Authority tells CBS 3 it does not receive meter inspection reports from the City, and has no idea which have been certified as required by law.

If you feel you were wrongly ticketed, fight back, dispute the ticket. If the Parking Authority can't show that the meter has been certified, the ticket is technically unenforceable and it should be thrown out.

If you've received a ticket for an expired parking meter and would like to see if that meter has been tested for timing accuracy you can click on the link below. Please note this list was compiled after 3-On Your Side reviewed thousands of inspection reports filed with Philadelphia's Licenses & Inspections Department. The list reflects information obtained directly from reports that were filed in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Locations are listed in alphabetical or numerical order. In several instances, the same meter may be listed in two different locations, as it was on the reports. We have made no corrections to any location errors that were on file with L&I.


RELATED LINKS:

(The below links are PDF - http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html )

Parking Meter Tests (Press F5 if page does not display)
Parking Authority Response
Web Extra: Interview With Dominic Verdi of L&I
Web Extra: Interview With Attorney Chuck Pascal
Mayor Nutter Responds To Investigation

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