Parking enforcement shifts towards behaviour, not tickets

Cities across North America are starting to rethink what success looks like in parking enforcement, with a growing shift away from issuing tickets and towards getting people to pay correctly in the first place.

A new survey of parking and mobility teams suggests that nearly half of cities now say their main goal is driving compliance rather than relying on penalties to correct behaviour. However, many cities still judge performance using traditional measures such as the number of citations issued.

The findings come from the 2025 Parking Compliance Trends Report, based on a survey of hundreds of city, university and private-sector parking operators across North America.

Gene Rohrwasser, CTO of Passport, said the gap between stated goals and day-to-day practice reflects how cities have historically measured parking performance.

“That gap exists largely because citation volume is an easy metric to track, not because it reflects the outcome cities actually want,” he told Cities Today. “Compliance is a behavioural goal, but many departments still rely on legacy KPIs built around enforcement activity rather than customer experience or voluntary adherence.”

Rather than focusing on punishment, Rohrwasser said cities that are making progress are redesigning systems around behaviour and outcomes.

“Cities that lead on compliance-first parking invest in tools that make it simple to do the right thing, with a complete and accurate view of their environment,” he said. “When paying is easy and intuitive, compliance rises naturally.”

The study shows many cities are beginning to support this approach with digital tools. Most respondents report that between 26 percent and 75 percent of parking transactions now take place via mobile payments, while more than half have moved to digital, licence plate-based permits. Mobile enforcement software was cited as having the greatest impact on operational efficiency, followed by licence plate recognition.

However, staffing shortages and public resistance were cited more frequently than technology limitations as barriers to improving compliance. Rohrwasser said leading cities are using digital systems to reduce friction for both drivers and frontline staff.

“Intelligent enforcement tools help focus limited resources on the areas that matter most, using real time guidance, in-field photo verification, and officer direction to improve accuracy and consistency,” he said. “Combined with license plate recognition, these capabilities ensure officers spend less time searching and more time enforcing where it has the greatest impact.”

Cities are also using digital tools to prevent problems before they escalate.

“Notifications, grace periods, and clear digital receipts reduce misunderstandings before they become disputes,” Rohrwasser said. “The result is a system that feels more fair and transparent to the public, while allowing smaller teams to operate more safely and effectively.”

Despite rising adoption of new tools, more than a third of cities reported no major change in enforcement strategy over the past three to five years. Rohrwasser said this often reflects a failure to rethink underlying incentives.

“Technology alone doesn’t drive transformation, intent does,” he said. “Cities that successfully move to compliance-first models start with a clear policy goal: making it easy to comply and fair when people don’t.”

Many cities expect automation and digital enforcement to expand, but disconnected data systems remain a constraint.

“When systems talk to each other, cities can measure compliance holistically and automate intelligently,” Rohrwasser said. “With clear goals and integrated data, automation becomes a tool for accountability and trust, not just efficiency.”

Main image: Andreistanescu | Dreamstime.com