You would think that parking would be easy.

On Preston Street, in front of the county’s administration building, there is plenty of traffic.

And plenty of drivers confused by the parking markings.

One set in the street showing the space and an arrow in the middle telling you the space number.

"The arrow for two is pointing in that direction and the arrow for three is pointing in this direction,” regular downtown driver Dwight Jefferson explained noting the arrows are in the middle of the parking space.

But if anyone is not lined up just right, it is hard to tell which space you are actually in. And sometimes drivers pay the wrong meter.

And that could lead to tickets.

"I've only gotten one ticket down here so far,” said Jefferson. “That's it. I am lucky."

Many aren’t so lucky. Just so how do the parking spots work?

Trying to sort this all out, we went right to the source -- The Ticket man.

"What it is. Is go by the arrows. See where it says two. And the arrow is pointing to the meter? That's the one he'll pay,” the Ticket man said.

"We have in our handheld where we can give them a warning to make sure they park in the correct space next time."

The problem is plenty of folks aren't getting warnings they are getting tickets-

The solution is actually only a few blocks away. The newest parking meters being installed downtown doesn’t worry about space number they issue a ticket. A ticket that you then place face up on your dashboard to verify you paid to park.

Better a ticket from the meter than from the meter reader.