Parking tickets

[FreddyDriver]

Am i the only one that thinks that parking tickets are just a way for the city to collect money? Is creating all this no parking really a benefit to anyone in Toronto (or your city)? I realize there are legitimate and obvious reasons for no parking zones. But there is plenty of space on the side streets for all sorts of cars, they just don't allow it.
What problem is it really addressing? Pollution? Traffic congestion? Preventing people from owning five cars? Making sure permit holder have a space? What would really happen if there was free parking for an unlimited time, mass chaos?

[dealmeone]

Yes, despeite what what any cop will tell you, parking tickets are nothing more than the city's way of generating revenue. I recently received one in an area that was free to park until 10 am. I got to the car before 10 am and the ticket had a time of 9:20 am on it. Their thinking is that many suckers will just go ahead and pay the tickets rather than take a day off work, lose a day's pay and fight it to save $30. It is a complete scam. They can write you a ticket for anything at all and the onus is on you to fight it. (yes it does happen and yes there are crooked cops out there). The joke of the matter is that when you go to set a court date to fight it, they never set dates for the $30 "tickets". There is too much of a backlog in the courts for "real" offences. It is nothing more than an license to print money (or more accurately to steal money from the public). No wonder the police do not get the support from the public that they steal from.