Parking violations in Baltimore will soon cost you more
Starting Monday, May 12, the cost of parking violations will increase in Baltimore City.
According to the Baltimore Department of Transportation (BCDOT), progressive fines for residential permit parking (RPP) violations in residential areas will be moving to a tiered system, with higher fines for more offenses in a 12-month period.
How much will residential parking violations cost?
Starting Monday, violators will be fined $50 for their first ticket, $70 for the second violation, $100 for their third offense, and $150 for their fourth violation. In high-demand areas, such as near the stadiums or Pimlico, there will be a flat $100 fine during certain events.
The new system comes after the BCDOT launched a 24-hour parking enforcement program in March to improve parking compliance, reduce traffic, and allow agency resources to be better utilized.
Residents in high-demand parking areas, such as Federal Hill and Pigtown, say they hope this deters illegal parking. Often, if there is a stadium event going on, residents with a permit can't find a spot near their home because non-permitted cars are in the way.
"If there's an event going on, like an Orioles game or something, sometimes or a Ravens game, especially sometimes people park in the neighborhood and take up the parking," said Alex Bradley, from Pigtown.
Others have resorted to trying to enforce the parking rules on their own.
"I've had to trick out-of-towners out of spots that they were going to park in," said Olivia, who's lived in Federal Hill for one year. "It's just irritating. It would just be better if people would just park where they should and not in our neighborhood, spots that we pay for."
The new fine system comes after the BCDOT launched a 24-hour parking enforcement program in March to improve parking compliance, reduce traffic, and allow agency resources to be better utilized.
The added overnight enforcement targets habitual parking violators, including illegally parked commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods, violations of residential permit parking, repeat parking offenders, and other traffic control concerns.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the new parking enforcement strategy this week, saying this is a huge problem in neighborhoods across the city.
"We had no sympathy for folks who do illegal things," Scott said. "Too many of our residents who pay for parking in their neighborhoods are able to find a spot at the end of the day because of people who are illegally parking."
In February, the Parking Authority of Baltimore City introduced a new mobile payment system available for use at metered parking spots and city-operated lots. The system allows users to be notified when their parking time is about to expire and extend their parking time without returning to their vehicle.
While city officials say the new enforcement will help crack down on illegally parked vehicles, including cars that have been abandoned, some residents told WJZ it only adds to the existing parking difficulty. Others are concerned if the fines will actually be levied, and the rules enforced.
"I think people will still do what they want, but at the same time, the city is not afraid to also ticket residents for parking a couple of inches ahead of signs and stuff like that," Olivia said. "And I've noticed a lot of times on game days, they don't even ticket. So, I may be something of a concern," Olivia said.
Maryland's crackdown on traffic enforcement
The parking enforcement comes amid an increase in reckless driving penalties statewide.
At the beginning of this year, the state began a new tiered fine structure for speeding tickets - with higher fines for higher speeds.
Fines double when workers are present on the roadway.
The new system came after an I-695 work zone crash that killed six construction workers in March 2023.
