TCNA and neighbors talked with the head of Baltimore City Parking Authority at the TCNA meeting on September 18, 2024. The information below came from that meeting and questions that were answered after the meeting.

The registration process will remain the same. Every year registering your car for Residential Permit Parking can be done on-line or in person.

The major changes will be in the type and frequency of enforcement and also how you can purchase visitor passes.

CURRENT PAPER SYSTEM

• You get a paper permit that goes in your car.

• You get a paper permit that goes in a visitor's car.

NEW VIRTUAL SYSTEM

• You don't get a paper permit for your car. The virtual system is based on license plates.

• Your license plate is registered and visitor's plates are registered for the dates that they are needed

PAPER PERMIT ENFORCEMENT

• The Parking Enforcement Agent walks the blocks and looks at each car to determine if it is legally parked in the RPP area.

• Returns after 2 hours to determine if the illegally parked car is still there.

• If the car is illegally parked, then the Parking Enforcement Agent writes a ticket and places it on the car.





Paper Enforcement now happens occasionally, once a week.

VIRTUAL PERMIT

ENFORCEMENT

• The Parking Enforcement Agent drives a special van with a license reader on the roof of the van through each block to determine if the car is legally parked in the RPP area.

• Returns after 2 hours to determine if the illegally parked car is still there.

• If the car is illegally parked, then a ticket is written and placed on the car.

Virtual Enforcement would happen 3-5 days a week or more.

Some neighborhoods are now using The Virtual Enforcement Process

Riverside and Ridgely's Delight have been participating in the Virtual Permit Parking since 2020 and 2021 respectively. Riverside was a brand new RPP area that never had paper permits before. Ridgely's Delight transitioned to VPP from paper. Testing of the license plate recognition software was for a two-year period until February 2023. 

Light Street was created as a Virtual Permit Parking area in April 2024. Roland Park/ Wymans transitioned from paper to virtual enforcement in August 2024 and Mt. Vernon completed their transition in September 2024.

All RPP neighborhoods can select which system that their neighborhood RPP wants to use - Paper or Virtual Enforcement

YES VOTE MEANS YOU WANT TO CHANGE TO REQUIRING ALL VIRTUAL FOR EVERYONE IN THE RPP BLOCKS IN TUSCANY CANTERBURY. THIS WILL MEAN MORE ENFORCEMENT OF RPP IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

NO VOTE MEANS YOU WANT TO KEEP THE PAPER SYSTEM FOR 2025 WHICH MEANS NEIGHBORS CONTINUE TO USE PAPER PERMITS. THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.

If you have decided,

CLICK and TYPE in YES OR NO.

If you have questions or need additional information, keep on reading information below.

TCNA Questions from Neighbors

?How will visitors be allowed to park with virtual RPP?

Answer: There are several ways for visitors to be allowed to park during RPP times.

• Download the RPP Visitor PHONE APP (Permit Connect APP) and put in your information, put in the visitor license plate number and the day(s) when the visitor will be at your home. No ticket will be given when parked on those days.

• Use the computer and go into the RPP system and add the visitor license plate number and the dates at your address to your RPP account.

• Your visitor can go into the RPP system and put in the required information in the RPP system for a visitor permit using the registered homeowner ID number.

• Call RPP and request that they put in the visitor information for the dates needed. The phones will be answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

? Can you still go to the RPP office to get RPP?

Answer: Yes you can still sign up at the RPP office to register your car at your address. However you will still need to use the phone APP, computer or call RPP each time you want to register a visitor car and the date. If the visitor has been registered at your address, you only need to add the dates visiting.

? If the Virtual Process is selected, can you still get a paper permit?

Answer: NO. If neighborhood votes for Virtual, in July 2025 everything will be Virtual Permits. No paper permits for residents or visitors.

? How many visitor permits can you get at the same time?

ANSWER: Only 1 visitor is allowed per household. (Same as now).

? Can you still get contractor and party permits in the Virtual system?

Answer: Yes. There is difference from current policy. You have to use the Permit Connect App or your computer to register them.

? Will the problems with the RPP systems that we experienced this summer be fixed and will be easier to get the virtual permits on line?

Answer: At the September TCNA meeting, we were told many changes have already been made to make the RPP system easier to use. If you have problems, you can call RPP to get help and let us know the problem.

? If the neighborhood decides not to go virtual in June for 2025-2026 and we want to wait for other neighborhoods to see if it's workable, can we vote again for 2026-2027?

Answer: YES

?What are the blocks in Tuscany Canterbury that have RPP?

• 3900 block Cloverhill Road
• 3900 block Canterbury Road
• Unit block East 0-99, Highfield Road
• Unit block East 0-99, 39th Street, north side
• Tuscany and Lombardy, 221 and 220 Stony Run Lane
• 3900 block Linkwood Road

? How many people have to vote yes to Virtual ONLY Option for it to be implemented in Tuscany-Canterbury?

Answer: A Super-Majority, two-thirds families voting and live on RPP blocks. One vote per address. If a family doesn't vote, then that vote doesn't count for or against the plan. Only RPP households responding will count.

? Why do we have to decide now for something that will happen in June 2025?

Answer: By November 1, 2024, the RPP Authority has to order the amount of paper supplies that will be needed for all the neighborhoods in the City that want to have the Paper Option. Therefore, all the neighborhoods have to decide by October 31, 2024.

TCNA Neighbors' Comments and Thoughts

COMMENT: Complex New Virtual System

I'm assuming that a contractor(s) is providing the system software and hardware (akin to a"mobile" red light camera or "mobile" speed camera system). Who has access to the data we're required to upload? Contractors, City employees? What is the security to prevent hacking? What consequences for whom for system failure - such as the regular "glitches" in software? We are very skeptical of more complex virtual software/hardware for ensuring legal parking on our street. 

 Visitor Vehicle Registration On-line

For me, this is a big red flag. Again, I don't want to interact with an on-line system more than once a year. More importantly, this is a huge invasion of privacy - too "Big Brother"for us. Neither City Government nor any private contractor should have any access to any info about our Visitors who need a parking permit while visiting. (I'm not all that comfortable about my own information in these systems as hacking of all kinds of data systems keeps increasing.) The Visitor registration requirement alone is enough for us to oppose this virtual system. It's a deal breaker. 

COMMENT: Potential to Increase Illegal Parking

JHU students, guests, and/or neighborhood visitors already park illegally on Cloverhill Road - and Canterbury Road - more at some times than others - and would likely increase once non-residents catch on to the new system. A parking free-for-all doesn't seem that far fetched given the roll out by the Parking Authority of the new 2024 on-line permit system.

 COMMENT: Potential to Increase Illegal Parking

Locals will have no way to distinguish legally parked cars from cars parked illegally on the street. How then do we identify and report problems and keep parking available to "permitted" locals?

COMMENT: Better Enforcement

The new system will work better because it will provide for more enforcement of illegally parked cars. Parking Authority will increase the sweeps from occasionally to several times a week.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

TCNA (RPP neighbors) need to make a decision by October 31, 2024 if you want to change completely to VIRTUAL Residental Permit Parking when your permits expire in June 2025 or keep the way it is now.

TCNA needs to know what you want to do.

YES VOTE MEANS YOU WANT TO CHANGE TO REQUIRE ALL VIRTUAL FOR EVERYONE IN THE RPP BLOCKS IN TUSCANY CANTERBURY. THIS WILL MEAN MORE ENFORCEMENT OF RPP IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

NO VOTE MEANS YOU WANT TO KEEP THE PAPER SYSTEM THE SAME FOR 2025 WHICH MEANS NEIGHBORS CONTINUE TO USE PAPER PERMITS. THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT WITHOUT AN ALL VIRTUAL SYSTEM.

Before October 31, 2024

1. Read the information about the Virtual Program.
2. Talk to your neighbors and friends in Tuscany-Canterbury about their thoughts.
3. Decide what type of RPP system you want beginning July 2025
4. Each household can vote one time. CLICK ON THE VOTE RED BUTTON AND TYPE YES OR NO