By: Billy BeerSlugger
Last week I parked close about a block away from McGillan’s as I was getting the .25 cent wings and $5 pitchers I so admire. I was somewhat surprised to see to see a shift in Center City from the old Quarter fed parking meters to the new and slightly improved “Pay and Display” method.
The Pay and Display method is better than the Quarter method because parking rates went up and you don’t always have 16 Quarters on you. You can put your paper money into one of the pay stations and it spits out a receipt which you display on your dashboard which has a date and expiry time.
Now I do not condone counterfeiting in the least bit but it kind of popped into my head that you could probably park for free given a scanner, some Photoshop skills and a printer. Basically what I’m saying is that you can (allegedly) scan a parking receipt and change the date and time to suit your own needs.
I noticed that there is some sort of code on the bottom that probably corresponds with the transaction ID from the pay station. I’m guessing, at least temporarily, that Philadelphia Parking Authority workers have been trained to read these codes and determine whether the ticket is real. However, that does not preclude you from placing an object of your choosing over said code to obfuscate it but not the date and time. To tell you the truth though I don’t think the PPA workers care enough to actually check the codes on the tickets while also checking dates and times. I mean what is their motivation.. really?
That’s not to say that this system is fool proof, there may be other types of security enhancements I’m not aware of but I can’t really see how else to determine a real ticket from a fake ticket given the PPA worker cannot actually reach into your car and inspect it.
Further, it’s not like it’s exactly convenient to have to print out a parking receipt every time you want to go somewhere but if you know where you are going to park and will be there for at least a couple of hours then it may be worth it to take 5 minutes out of your time to manipulate your pre-made PPA Parking receipt template and print it out.
Disclaimer: Any information in this article is given purely for informational purposes and is not intended to be used to defraud any parking system. Not responsible for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error or failure to perform. At participating locations only. Apply only to affected area. If condition persists, consult your physician.
PS: if anyone tries this let me know how it turns out though I will promptly turn you into the authorities.