Starting Monday, the cost of parking violations will increase in Baltimore.

According to the Baltimore Department of Transportation, fines for parking violations in residential areas will be moving to a tiered system, with higher fines for more offenses in a 12-month period.

How much will residential parking violations cost?

Starting Monday, violators will be fined $50 for their first ticket, $70 for the second violation, $100 for their third offense, and $150 for their fourth violation. In high-demand areas, such as near the stadiums or Pimlico, there will be a flat $100 fine during certain events.

Residents in high-demand parking areas, such as Federal Hill and Pigtown, say they hope this deters illegal parking. Often, if there is a stadium event going on, residents with a permit can’t find a spot near their home because non-permitted cars are in the way.

“If there’s an event going on, like an Orioles game or ... a Ravens game, especially sometimes people park in the neighborhood and take up the parking,” said Alex Bradley, from Pigtown.

The new fine system comes after the BCDOT launched a 24-hour parking enforcement program in March to improve parking compliance, reduce traffic, and allow agency resources to be better utilized.

The added overnight enforcement targets habitual parking violators, including illegally parked commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods, violations of residential permit parking, repeat parking offenders, and other traffic control concerns.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the new parking enforcement strategy this week, saying this is a huge problem in neighborhoods across the city.

“We had no sympathy for folks who do illegal things,” Scott said. “Too many of our residents who pay for parking in their neighborhoods are unable to find a spot at the end of the day because of people who are illegally parking.”

In February, the Parking Authority of Baltimore City introduced a new mobile payment system that is available for use at metered parking spots and city-operated lots. The system allows users to be notified when their parking time is about to expire and extend their parking time without returning to their vehicle.

While city officials say the new enforcement will help crack down on illegally parked vehicles, including cars that have been abandoned, some residents told WJZ it only adds to the existing parking difficulty.

Maryland’s crackdown on traffic enforcement

The parking enforcement comes amid an increase in reckless driving penalties statewide.

At the beginning of this year, the state began a new tiered fine structure for speeding tickets, with higher fines for higher speeds.

Fines double when workers are present on the roadway.

The new system came after an I-695 work zone crash that killed six construction workers in March 2023.

WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner. See the original story.