I currently work as a Parking Enforcement Officer in the wonderful city of Toronto. I am feared, and loathed by all. I may not work in your particular city, but I'm positive that I can help give you a better understanding of what Meter Maids do. I am knowledgeable in all parking matters so ask me anything.
You cannot receive a parking ticket without a license plate in Toronto. In other cities I have heard that you can be ticketed directly from your VIN, but not here. However, if you are parked illegally without plates on, you can be towed from your VIN which is a much heftier fine than a parking ticket.
We do ticket for the the three hour bylaw. Signs are posted at the city limits and state that everywhere in Toronto has a three hour parking maximum. The bylaw itself is only enforced by complaint and can only be enforced if someone that lives on the street calls in. I realize there are no signs on these streets but the bylaw is city wide and is stated at the entrances to the city, and therefore signs are not required. If you find yourself getting a lot of these tickets maybe it's a good idea to meet up with your neighbours and maybe see what can we done in the future.
My mood doesn't have anything to do with my productivity. If more people are parked illegally then I give out more tickets. If no one is out that day, the amount of tickets I give out decreases. I will admit that I'm less inclined to deal with peoples theatrics when i am in a bad mood, but it doesn't affect my work performance.
There are areas I visit more than others. I wouldn't call them "favourite spots" but they are definitely frequented by more people on a daily basis. Places near shopping centers, hospitals and attractions are always good to check just to ensure they don't get overly congested and unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists.
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We don't get a commision on the individual tickets we give out. We also do not rely on tax payers to pay our salaries. The Parking Enforcement Unit itself can pay its own employees based on the revenue it brings in from tickets given out as a whole.
We manually have to key in the information. License plate, make of the vehicle, and the val tag expiry are all entered this way.
Switchover streets can be complicated. The unit policy as of now does not state that we have to wait until noon. Last time I checked (I don't have many switch over streets where I work), I thought that the grace period was until 9 am. I would call to confirm this with the area supervisor for the division you live in. The people who have no permit at all would be ticketed right away, but those with valid permits are to be given a grace period. 7 am seems a little early to be doing switchover, but I could be wrong. Call in and get a supervisor to confirm and take down their name for future reference in case it happens again.
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