Madison Park-By-Plate / Park Madison App Failure Defense
Madison transitioned to pay-by-plate via the Park Madison app (Passport) in much of downtown and campus areas. Under Madison General Ordinances §12.137, citations require non-payment of meter fees. When the app fails to process, when a typo entered the wrong plate, or when the system fails to associate payment with the correct vehicle, the user has not 'failed to pay' — compliance was attempted in good faith and the system is at fault. Madison is generally responsive to documented app failures because of well-known Park Madison system issues.
Legal basis
Madison General Ordinances §12.137; Wis. Stat. §346.50
Sample appeal wording
[DATE] City of Madison Parking Utility 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Madison WI 53703 Re: Citation #[NUMBER] I appeal this citation. I attempted to pay through the Park Madison app at [TIME] on [DATE] for Zone [#] for vehicle [PLATE]. Evidence: 1. App screenshot showing payment session [active / failed with error '[CODE]'] (Exhibit A) 2. Bank statement showing [successful $[X] charge / failed authorization] (Exhibit B) 3. [If typo: I entered [WRONG-PLATE] when the correct plate is [CORRECT-PLATE] — single character difference. The session was for the correct vehicle in the correct zone.] Under Madison General Ordinances §12.137, the citation requires non-payment. Documented good-faith payment attempt — even with a system or input error — does not constitute non-payment. I request dismissal. [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- Madison General Ordinances §12.137
- cityofmadison.com/parking-utility
- Park Madison app terms