Montreal, QC on June 1, 2007 – Montreal's parking and traffic ticket system is a mess but the city has a high-tech solution to get people to pay up quicker - it's computerizing the process to reduce errors and speed up the mailing of infraction reminders.

In his annual report on how the city manages its finances, made public yesterday, municipal auditor-general Michel Doyon complained it takes far too long for ticket information to be computerized, and the number of tickets written off as uncollectible is growing fast.  The city's response: Improvements are on the way, thanks to Group Techna, the City’s chosen supplier of new hand-held computers that ticket-givers will be equipped with, beginning this fall.

For the 321,000 tickets issued by police last year, it took an average 22 days for the data to be entered into computers, Doyon told reporters.

It took an average 16 days for the 1.2 million parking tickets to be entered.  Doyon said Montreal is writing off more tickets. In 2004, it considered $43 million worth of tickets as "doubtful receivables." A year later, it was $56 million.  More than 105,000 tickets were unaccounted for in 2005, never having been entered in the system, he said. The system is so antiquated; the city still has on file unpaid tickets from as far back as 1980, Doyon added.  Some tickets now are rejected because of errors like illegible license-plate numbers.

With Group Techna system, ticket information will be typed directly into computers, which will print out tickets for drivers, then send the data to a processing centre.

In a separate news conference, Frank Zampino, head of the city's executive committee, said 80 per cent of tickets now are paid within 60 days. Within five years, 99 per cent of tickets are paid.

Since October, a change in the law is speeding the process by allowing justices of the peace to render judgments for the 15 per cent of recipients who do not respond to reminders.  Previously, such cases dragged on in court.

About Group Techna

Group Techna is a leading provider of eTicketing and management solutions. We empower mobile workforces of private organizations, states and municipalities by increasing efficiency and productivity – all critical factors in business growth, profitability & competitiveness. Our goal is to help you achieve your organizational objectives as effectively and as efficiently as possible. We combine your strategic plans with our understanding of emerging technologies to design and implement the best solutions to get there. Group Techna can procure your organization with fully integrated eTicketing solutions; including rugged hardware, secure wireless networks, robust software, professional services and exceptional support programs.