Edmonton city council considers towing vehicles that violate winter parking bans, street sweeps

February 5, 2025 Canuck

A towing program may be on the horizon as Edmonton city council explores how to get cars off the street during parking bans or street sweeps.

The initiative is being spearheaded by Coun. Andrew Knack, for Ward Nakota Isga, who said it is time to take a stricter approach after two years of conducting an awareness campaign through mailed notices, emails and text messages to residents about the importance of not parking on the street during parking bans.

“What we’re talking about is maybe five per cent of people who, for any number of reasons, aren’t moving their vehicles,” Knack told council during a meeting on Wednesday.

“Impacting the other 95 per cent of our city on a core service that we get complaints about every single year.”

Knack put forward a motion to have city administration look into the specifics of creating a “zero net cost towing program.”

Councillors debated the practicalities of how such a program would work on Wednesday.

Inquiries included whether the program would include the cost of towing only or include enforcement as such bylaw officers.

An amended motion put forward and approved unanimously will have administration provide an analysis report on parking fine options and looking at key areas in the city where the issue is most prevalent.

The report is expected to come out before this fall.

Pilot project

This is not the first time the city has attempted to curb the issue of drivers leaving cars on roads during parking bans.

City administration told council about a pilot project from 2022 to 2023 that included towing.

The project at the time had a budget that was able to accommodate for 15 bylaw officers and towing.

For the pilot program, the average towing cost was $130 with the fine amount set at $250.

One issue that came up during the pilot was that the speed at which operators with the parks and roads services branch were able to clear the roads was too fast for officers to issue tickets which would lead to towing.

Existing contracts with two towing companies allowed for 10 tow trucks to be on the road for parking bans.

There was only capacity to tow one in 10 cars that got a ticket which resulted in about 420 tows in the season, despite having more than 4,000 tickets issued, administration said.

The pilot was not continued and the city presently does not have the resources to tow cars, administration said.

Councillors like Anne Stevenson, for the central downtown Ward O-day’min, also flagged concerns around costs being passed down to those who cannot afford them.

“I do feel a trepidation just around high fees and fines for folks in the communities that I represent,” Stevenson said.

“I am supportive of getting some more information back, but looking at something that is affordable, both for taxpayers and also Edmontonians.”

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Canada News

Edmonton city council considers towing vehicles that violate winter parking bans, street sweeps

Pilot project

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