Philadelphia Parking Authority investigates after FOX 29 report

UPDATE: The Philadelphia Parking Authority is investigating after a FOX 29 report showing some receipts from curbside parking kiosks were dis-coloring in the heat, making them impossible to read.

A spokesman confirms the receipts are printed on what's called thermal paper. It can be susceptible to discoloring in extreme heat, but the've been assured itspaper should stand up to extreme conditions. The authority has inspected the kiosks on the block and alerted enforcement officers to watch for discolored receipts and to give vehicles the benefit of the doubt when receipts are hard to read.

Original report:

FOX 29's Bruce Gordon took on the Philadelphia Parking Authority and won. At issue appears to be faulty paper used as receipts in those curbside kiosks for street parking.

Anthony Hopkins says he parked his Lexus SUV on the 3300 block of Market Street Tuesday and did what he always does--placed the receipt from the nearby parking kiosk on his passenger-side dashboard and started to walk away.

"And I notice out of the corner of my eye that it's already starting to change," Hopkins explained.

FOX 29's Bruce Gordon asked, "Change in what way?" Hopkins replied, "Almost like you held a flame under it. It started to change to this dark brown color."

Sure enough, when Hopkins returned, a $36 ticket was under his wiper. The technical offense was "expired meter". But in the comments section, the parking officer wrote, "Kiosk receipt not displayed."

"They probably just couldn't read it and were thinking, I can't read it. Maybe this guy's trying to pull a fast one on me. Let me just write a ticket anyway," Hopkins said.

FOX 29's Bruce Gordon sent photos of the parking ticket and discolored kiosk receipt to the Parking Authority and they quickly responded, determining "the ticket was written in error and is being administratively canceled. The PPA apologizes for any inconvenience."

FOX 29's Bruce Gordon told Hopkins, "I have some good news to report. They are going to blow out that ticket for you."

Gordon saw several other parking receipts changing color-- becoming harder to read--up and down the block.

It's possible the PPA uses what's called thermal paper for their kiosk receipts. It's inexpensive to use but can darken and discolor when exposed to extreme heat lke the kind found on a summertime dashboard.