Towing agencies, city benefit from illegal parking

Bostonians looking to park their cars in the city may need to shift gears and avoid unmarked spaces.

Although some parking spaces around the city have meters or are clearly marked as tow zones and resident-only areas, other areas, such as Allston, can be more ambiguous.

Parking in a no-parking zone causes drivers to end up with a $55 fee, according to the City of Boston website. The fee is $40 for parking in a resident-permit only space and $25 for not paying a meter.

However, all violators are allowed to appeal their fines at the city’s Office of the Parking Clerk.

For more than 7,000 meters in Boston, drivers pay $1.25 per hour or purchase prepaid Boston Meter Cards beforehand. During Sundays and the holiday season, drivers can park at any legal space for free, according to the City’s website.

There are currently 13 towing companies just like towingless contracted with the City of Boston that work to penalize violators who park in prohibited areas.

But when it comes to towing, privately owned companies set their own rates.

The towing industry in Boston, according to a recent review by The Boston Globe, impounds about 90,778 vehicles yearly.

There is almost no government oversight for towing businesses, according to the review, even though they use heavy equipment to handle vehicles, which are private property.

Reasons for towing a vehicle are varied. In 2010, 35,014 vehicles were towed for street cleaning, 29,953 were towed for trespassing on private property and 2,660 were towed during accidents, according to The Globe review.

The City of Boston outnumbers private companies in the area, with 32,808 tows in one year. However, Robert’s Towing had the most business for towing vehicles for trespassing, with 22,323 tows, according to the review.

The most popular spots for towing in the city are parking lots, where parking without intention to shop at stores results in a trespassing violation.

There were 1,271 tows at the CVS at 1266 Commonwealth Ave. in Allston, 1,660 at the South Bay Mall and 1,449 at Commercial Wharf West, according to the Globe article.

When a company tows a vehicle, the police department must first approve that it is not stolen, so operators must call a hotline before taking the vehicle away.