To pay a Pittsburgh parking ticket, you have four options: online at dspayments.com/Pittsburgh, by phone at 866-353-7151, by mail to Pittsburgh Parking Court, or in person at the Parking Court cashier window at 240 Fourth Avenue Downtown. Each method clears the citation from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority’s system. Paying before the deadline printed on your ticket matters, because late penalties, boot fees, towing charges, and eventually a PennDOT registration suspension all stack on top of the original fine if you let it sit.
Four Ways to Pay
Pick whichever channel fits your situation. All of them post to the same account.
- Online. Go to dspayments.com/Pittsburgh and enter either the citation number from your ticket or your license plate number and state of registration. The portal accepts Mastercard, Visa, and Discover. Save the confirmation number that appears on screen.1dspayments.com. Parking Ticket Information for The Pittsburgh Parking Authority, Pennsylvania
- By phone. Call 866-353-7151. The automated system runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and takes Mastercard, Visa, and Discover. A convenience fee applies.2Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Enforcement FAQ
- By mail. Send a check or money order to Pittsburgh Parking Court, P.O. Box 640, Pittsburgh, PA 15230-0640. Include the ticket stub or write the citation number on the check so staff can match the payment to your account. Build in mail time; the postmark date won’t necessarily save you from late fees if the payment arrives after the deadline.
- In person. The Parking Court cashier is at 240 Fourth Avenue, inside the Third/Fourth Avenue Parking Authority Garage. The window is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. That’s the cashier location, not the PPA’s administrative office on Boulevard of the Allies.3Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Parking Court
If You Don’t Have the Ticket in Hand
You can still pay. The online portal lets you search by license plate and state of registration, so you don’t need the citation number or the physical ticket.2Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Enforcement FAQ
This matters more than it used to. The PPA has expanded a ticket-by-mail program across multiple city zones and parking lots, and certain PPA lots use camera-based enforcement that runs around the clock except Sundays.4Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Ticket by Mail Press Release In those areas, enforcement officers electronically record violations and the citation is mailed to the registered owner rather than left on the windshield. You may not know you’ve been ticketed until the mail arrives days later. Searching your plate on the payment portal is the fastest way to check.
You can also call 866-353-7151 during business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM) and say “get information” when prompted to find out how many outstanding tickets are on your record.2Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Enforcement FAQ
Deadlines and Late Penalties
Every Pittsburgh parking citation has a payment deadline printed on the ticket itself. Pay within that window and you owe only the base fine. Miss it and the PPA adds late penalties that grow the longer you wait. The exact timeline and amounts are on the citation, so check yours rather than assuming a standard grace period.
Common base fines range from $25 for an expired meter in most areas to $60.50 for rush-hour no-stopping violations, with higher amounts in Oakland, Downtown, and Uptown. Parking in a disabled space is $200.5Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Vehicle Infractions 2025 Verify the amount on your citation against the amount the portal shows before paying.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
The costs escalate quickly once tickets go delinquent.
Vehicles with three or more delinquent tickets are subject to being booted or towed. If your vehicle is booted, you’ll owe all outstanding fines plus a $100 boot removal fee before the device comes off.2Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Enforcement FAQ If the vehicle is towed instead, you’ll pay the outstanding tickets, the boot fee, a towing charge, and daily storage fees for every day the vehicle sits in impound. To retrieve a towed vehicle, you’ll generally need a valid driver’s license, proof of registration or insurance, and payment in full.
Pennsylvania law also lets unpaid parking debt trigger a vehicle registration suspension through PennDOT. Once suspended, the registration stays suspended until the parking debt is resolved.6Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Registration Suspensions Driving on a suspended registration is a separate criminal offense with its own fines and potential license consequences. A pile of $25 meter tickets can turn into a statewide problem.
If You Want to Contest Instead
Paying isn’t your only option, but the clock is tight. To contest a PPA-issued ticket, you must request a hearing within 20 days of the date of issue by calling Pittsburgh Parking Court at 412-560-7222 or using the administrative review portal.2Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Enforcement FAQ That 20-day window runs even if you haven’t received a ticket-by-mail citation yet. You’re required to pay the full citation amount before the hearing; it’s held in escrow and refunded if you’re found not liable, forfeited if you don’t show up.
Citations issued by Pittsburgh police (yellow tickets) and summonses go through Pittsburgh Municipal Court at 660 First Avenue, not Parking Court.3Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Parking Court Showing up at the wrong location won’t count as an appearance.
Keep Your Receipt
Hold onto the confirmation number, printed receipt, or cancelled check until you’ve verified the citation shows as paid in the PPA’s system. If a paid ticket still appears outstanding, that proof is what keeps a boot off your car and a hold off your registration.