Phone app helps report disabled parking scofflaws
Click on the image (left) to watch the report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward |
Report By: ctvbc.ca
Date: Thursday Apr. 21, 2011 5:13 PM ET
A Vancouver-based Smartphone app allows users to report scofflaws parking in disabled parking spaces illegally – but the developer says getting authorities to respond isn't so simple.
Campbell MacDonald's free Parking Mobility app prompts users to snap pictures of offending vehicles, then marks them with a timestamp and GPS reading.
It has about 5,000 regular users and a trial contract with the City of Vancouver, which patrols about 50 disabled parking spots.
It could be used to report violations in the other 6,000 in the city – but they are privately owned and enforcement is patchy and sometimes nonexistent.
MacDonald says his app is much more successful in the United States, where because of the Americans with Disabilities Act, governments take parking violations more seriously.
"We've had a much better reception in U.S. cities; [the app] applies to all parking spots," he said.
In B.C., the provincial government passes the buck to the cities – and while cities like Richmond say they are investigating parking concerns, spokesman Ted Townsend says enforcement is up to business owners.
"This is simple, basic, common courtesy for people. We shouldn't have to regulate everything people do," Townsend said.
Which means until something changes, disabled people will just have to trust everyone else not to break the rules.


