The ACT Opposition is blaming the Government for a sharp rise in the number of parking fines being issued in Canberra.
The Government issued more than $9 million in parking fines last financial year, up more than $1.5 million on the previous year.
Liberal MLA Alistair Coe says a deliberate reduction in parking places is forcing people to use illegal parking spaces.
Mr Coe says this year's figures will be even higher, with $1.5 million in fines already collected.
"To drive into the city and to find a car park or to drive into one of the town centres is a real ordeal," he said.
"The Government is deliberately taking away car parks and trying to force people on to buses by stealth, instead of actually trying to make the buses better and trying to encourage people on to public transport.
"When ACTION isn't a viable alternative, they are forced to drive and they are in a situation that quite often they are forced to park illegally."
Mr Coe says with such revenue from the fines, the Government should be able to afford to cut car registration penalties for people who can only pay quarterly, instead of giving people longer to pay fines.
But Brett Phillips from the Office of Regulatory Services says the number of tickets issued does not vary greatly from year to year.
He says a number of factors influence revenue from fines.
"In 2009-10 which is the first year of the report, parking fines were quite at the low end and last year they've gone up to a more normal range," he said.
"The number of tickets that we issue each year varies between the low 80,000 up to the high 90,000."
