It may become more difficult for people in Windsor, Ont., to dodge a parking ticket because the city will soon have photographic evidence of infractions.

The city is considering buying new hand-held machines that will not only print traditional tickets but also allow commissionaires, who are contracted to ticket vehicles in Windsor, to snap photos of anyone caught breaking parking rules.

A commissionaire will take a photo of the vehicle and signs or the meter at the time of the infraction. The photos will include a time stamp and ticket number.

Windsor's manager of traffic operations, John Wolfe, said the new machines would greatly reduce court cases and number of reduced tickets.

"The evidence is, what the evidence is," Wolfe said.

Just as it does with existing paper tickets, the city will keep the photographic evidence on file for seven years.

The city collects approximately $2.3 million dollars each year from parking tickets. It misses out on about $450,000 each year in reduced or voided tickets.

"We will have less lost revenue. That is the intent," Wolfe said. "We will have less disputed tickets and hopefully less court costs."

Tickets range from $15 for parking at an expired meter to $300 for parking in an accessible space.

"It adds up rather quickly as to what that actual cost is of the $15 ticket if somebody disputes it," Wolfe said.

The new machines cost close to $10,000 each and the city is looking to buy 16 of them.

The purchase must be approved by Windsor city council in the capital budget.