TORONTO – “The permit is my life,” says Toronto’s Wendy Murphy.
Since a car accident in 1984, Murphy has been using a wheelchair to get around. She also drives a vehicle, but often finds herself waiting to park, because of what she calls a growing problem in this city.
“There’s too many permits being issued number one, and number two they’re passing them on to people that don’t really need the spot,” Murphy says.
Only people with certain health conditions can apply for an accessible parking permit, and only the person named on the permit can use it to park in an accessible parking space.
But parking enforcement officer Scott Wylie says he catches drivers abusing the permit system all the time.
“The biggest excuse we get is generally they’re picking something up for them, so they’re doing something for the permit holder or they just dropped them off or they’re just going to pick them up,” says Wylie.
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If a person uses a permit not issued to them, it can result in fines of up to $5,000 and the permit may be seized.
It’s a penalty that clearly isn’t dissuading drivers, since Murphy says she constantly has to compete with drivers for accessible spaces, and doubts they all have legitimate permits.
“I have to sit by a fire hydrant waiting for people to walk out and get into parking spots that I have no other choice but to use,” she says.
City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam chairs Toronto’s Accessibility Advisory Committee.
She says that the City has called on the province to review the way permits are issued, on at least two occasions.
“You need to streamline how you’re going to make the application, perhaps you need to limit the numbers of months these permits are available,” Wong-Tam says. “You need to be much more active in the way you issue them, including perhaps security measures so they’re not easy to photo-copy.”
Wong-Tam also points to the high cost of daily parking as another factor in the misuse of special parking permits, since those with an accessible permit can park for free on city streets.