Cambridge seeks home‑rule authority to use automated camera enforcement and mailed parking tickets

Cambridge officials asked the joint committee for home‑rule authority to permit automated parking enforcement and the mailing of parking violation notices. City Council member Patty Nolan told the committee the council unanimously adopted the petition and that a state law (c.90 §28.5) limits Cambridge and Boston from mailing parking tickets, a limit the city says prevents it from using automated camera enforcement in the same way other municipalities do. Nolan said automated enforcement would improve safety and access — enforcing disabled parking, protecting transit, loading zones and bicycle lanes — and free staff time. The petition was sponsored by Representative Decker; Nolan said staff and councilors support the measure and cited related recent laws authorizing camera use on school and transit buses as precedent. The committee heard testimony and did not vote.