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Similar to photo radar, scofflaws will get a ticket in the mail rather than under their vehicle’s windshield wiper. It will include a photo of the licence plate, which Blaine hopes will reduce the number of people appealing these tickets in court. She currently has five to 10 officers called to court every week.

It’s a $50 ticket for motorists who do not pay for parking.

An update on the project went to city council last week. It’s a $12-million effort, with $5.2 million already spent on the new digital parking meters. It’s listed as late because the city originally thought it could roll out the whole plan by 2015.

The third phase — having city-owned parkades calculate the number and location of spots left — is still being developed.

The report to council says implementation was delayed while city officials investigated the possibility of partnering with another municipality.

Photo by David Bloom / Postmedia

Currently, any one parking spot on a downtown street is checked two times a day, pretty good odds if you’re only stopping for five minutes. Under the new plan, four vehicles will be able to reach each spot four times a day.

The fixed cameras will pick out vehicles for non-payment 100 per cent of the time, Blaine said. There will be signs at the entrances to parkades warning the public. The city owns the City Hall parkade, Canada Place parkade, the library parkade and the parking lot off Whyte Avenue near the Strathcona Farmers Market.

The 25 enforcement staff currently walking those beats will be redeployed to check for cars parked too close to crosswalks near schools, cars parked on restricted residential streets around hospitals and employment centres, and other hot spots where teams get numerous 311 reports, said Blaine. “There are many other areas of the city that need attention.”

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