Council to discuss disabled parking app

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Finding a parking space in Austin usually involves a lot of driving around for Bob Cafka, who is disabled.

“It seems that when you want it you can’t ever find one,” Cafka said. “Whether it’s a grocery store or facility, they seem to be at a premium.”

Cafka said a good majority of the time, parking spaces reserved for him and other disabled drivers are taken by those who don't need them.

Last year the city of Austin gave out 2,115 tickets to people parked illegally in disabled spots.

“Some people convince themselves that every time they drive by it's empty, so it won’t matter,” Cafka said.

But it does matter, and now Council Member Chris Riley is looking for help from the public.

“The number of people that need those spaces is just going to keep growing in the future and the city of Austin is not really in the position to do all of the enforcement that is necessary to make sure that those spaces go to the people that need them,” Riley said.

On next week’s City Council agenda, Riley is asking the city manager to come up with plan that will allow the public to report people illegally parked in disabled spots using a smart phone application.

There is already one application called Parking Mobility .

Riley says there are several cities already using the technology.

“We are not sure exactly what kind of shape it is going to take, but it's worth looking at the technology and the possibilities for putting that type of technology in the hands of citizens to help the city meet its needs when budget times are tough,” Riley said.

Riley says the city’s legal department is busy trying to figure out if the city can legally issue criminal tickets with evidence collected by citizens.

“There’s a lot of questions to figure out,” Riley said. “No clear answers to how it’s going to work but it’s worth looking into,” Riley said.

Cafka couldn’t agree more but he also thinks the city should work on an educational campaign as well.

The City Council will vote on this item during their meeting next Thursday.