New site and app could lead to more towing in Toronto
Next time some prat parks his car illegally in the middle of a lane (I'm looking at you, dudes who leave your Benzes on the street front of the Prada store, as if to say "your puny parking tickets have no impact on my finances whatsoever") you'll be able to report their sorry behinds at the push of a button.
TowIt is a brand-new platform that collects user-submitted data on illegally parked vehicles (including location, photos and license plate info), which they then submit to surrounding law enforcement officers and towing companies.
"We feel that in certain circumstances our crowdsourced public domain data is evidence enough to have an illegally parked car towed," the creators write, adding that they have safeguards in place to prevent fraudulent activity (so you're unlikely to get towed if someone just decides they want to mess with you).
In addition to the website, which marks the offending vehicles on a map, they just launched an Android app, and are planning to have iOS, BlackBerry and Windows versions up and running soon.
Towing has already witnessed a spike in Toronto following Mayor John Tory's blitz on illegal parking during rush hour, which has met with generally positive feedback. This is a bit different, of course, but the popularity of the service might ultimately hinge on the degree to which Torontonians are fed up with gridlock.
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