Several downtown streets were in the top-five for parking tickets issued during the past five years, with Macdonell Street taking the top spot each of those years and Wyndham Street North not far behind.
As of July 6, 21,325 parking tickets have been handed out city-wide so far this year, which is more than during all of 2020 when a variety of lockdowns and public safety measures were in place. They’ve resulted in revenue of nearly $99,780, with issued fines varying between $35 and $350 depending on the particular offence alleged.
However, fines issued doesn’t necessarily mean convictions or payment of penalties. As noted by Ashley Kassian, program manager for the city, individual tickets can be cancelled, dismissed or given reduced fines by the courts, or simply left unpaid.
Numbers listed in this article are for tickets issued and money collected.
Of the top five locations identified by city staff, Macdonell has seen the most ticketing (721) in 2023. Woolwich Street came second with 463, but that’s a long stretch of road that begins downtown and runs to the city’s north end.
Rounding out the top five were Wyndham Street north (452), Yarmouth Street (363) and Delhi Street (337), the latter of which is home to Guelph General Hospital.
Though some of the top five streets for ticketing have changed between 2019 and now, several consistently made the cut.
Macdonell regularly sees double, or nearly so, the number of tickets handed out on whatever street is runner-up. In all, Macdonell has seen 5,792 parking tickets handed out during that time.
Wyndham Street North claimed the number two spot in 2021 (475) and 2019 (789), while still landing in the top five the other years for a collective 2,959 tickets issued.
Yarmouth made the list for so far this year and last (601).
Rounding out the downtown locations, Carden, Baker and Cork streets made the list for 2019 and 2020.
Another prime location has been private property on College Avenue West, which was in the top five for 2020 (390), 2021 (462) and 2022 (840).
Delhi was among the most-ticketed streets in 2019 (555), 2021 (350) and so far this year.
Gordon, another long road, was in the top five for 2020 (496) and 2021 (453).
The city handed out 29,734 parking tickets last year (value $183,155), which is more than other recent years. There were 24,581 tickets issued in 2021 ($135,990) and 20,898 in 2020 ($127, 294).
In 2019, 20,067 parking tickets were given out ($117,151).
