INDIANAPOLIS — A proposal looking to curb illegal parking passed out of the Indianapolis Department of Public Works committee Thursday night.
It would incentivize ParkIndy to issue tickets for non-moving violations, especially cars parked in bike lanes, fire lanes and crosswalks.
It’s an issue downtown bicyclists say is not just annoying, but dangerous.
“Every day, there is at least one, if not more, cars in the bike lane,” Robert Pflueger said. “This is a designated lane for bikers, so we don’t have to ride on the sidewalk or the road.”
This new proposal would allow ParkIndy to share revenue with the city for all tickets issued, instead of just meter violations.
"Councilors and residents have asked our department to address a recurring bicycle and pedestrian safety concern: vehicles illegally parking within bike lanes and crosswalks, causing an unsafe commute for those reliant upon multi-modal infrastructure," said Brandon Herget, director of Indy DPW.
In 2022, more than 10,000 non-moving tickets were issued, but only about 20% were given out by ParkIndy. The rest were written by IMPD officers.
“What we are able to do with this amendment that passed out of committee is supplement our IMPD folks that are out doing traffic enforcement by adding those folks already doing meter enforcement to those ranks,” Herget said.
The city entered into a 50-year agreement with ParkIndy in December 2010 . The city and ParkIndy share revenue for meters, tickets and meter “bagging” fees.
The proposal now goes to the full City-County Council for a vote on Aug. 14. If adopted, a trial period would run through 2025.