ORLANDO, Fla. — 9 Investigates has learned that tens of thousands of parking tickets are issued each year in downtown Orlando.
Each year, the city of Orlando generates about $2 million in parking tickets, with most of them being issued to drivers parking downtown.
"Our parking passes go until six (p.m.), and if I get here 6:05, there might be a green ticket on my car," said Josephine Thompson.
Thompson parks her car in the Garland Avenue lot every week day. 9 Investigates found out that that lot is the number one spot for parking tickets in the city over the last year.
Data for nearly 100,000 parking tickets show that the Garland Avenue lot has brought in more than 6,000 of those tickets.
"I see the parking-enforcement people out here all the time. They just drove by, actually," Thompson said.
When drivers park in a garage, they pay on their way out, so there's no risk of a violation. But drivers who park in lots could end up with expired tickets if they underestimate how long they're going to be.
9 Investigates learned that Lot 9 on Hughey Avenue had the second highest amount of tickets with more than 3,200. Lot 10 on Hughey Avenue had more than 2,200.
Driver Sita Price said she tries to play it safe when parking in a city lot.
"It's easier to pay $3 or $4 to park here, and then not pay it (the ticket)," Price said.
The city said the money from the parking tickets is used to operate the city lots and garages.
"We basically break even. Make a little bit of money each year. So all of that money goes back into the maintenance and operation," parking division manager Scott Zollars said.
Some street parking spots were also high on the list for parking tickets, including the first block of East Pine Street and the 300 block of East Central Boulevard.
Thompson said after getting two parking tickets a year, she has words of advice for drivers.
"I do tell people, too, if they park here, make sure your parking pass that you paid for is clearly visible on your dash," Thompson said.