February 12, 2008
Jammed Up Parking Meters Really Grind Our Gears
You know what really grinds our gears? Getting a $40 parking ticket after a jammed up meter (#5630-2260) refuses our quarters.
Now back in the day, you could twist the old school metal knob and then a little flag printed with the words "Violation" or "Epoch Fail" would pop up. It looked a little like this.
Presumably, the Parking Control Officer (not "meter maid", Heavens no!) would investigate and then call the service people. Parkers wouldn't have to pay (but would risk getting a ticket if they stayed over the time limit for parking in that area).
These days there's no knob, so the PCO can't easily tell if the meter is operational. But you can see for yourself the tell-tale coin indicating a jam. Larger version of this photo here.
If only we had a Parking Card. Do many people use them? Some seem to love these things.
Anywho, we notified the meter fix-it department (415 290-4090) and we drafted a letter to the Citation Review Center. Wish us luck.
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greenhouse man. Stop driving and you won't have this problem any more.
you mean if I didn't have a car, then I'd never get a parking ticket? it's going to take me a while to wrap my head around that one. thanks for the pointer.
if you park your bike on a weekend in that area for an hour or so, there might not be enough left of it to ride home. N.B.
what a freaking useful comment jwb,
anyway, I highly recommend the parking cards, I buy em at the same time I buy my fastpass (sfmta.com)
I generally try to avoid driving, but sometimes it's easier, and I definitely like using the card when I do park.
good luck appealing it which will take about 40 hours of our time and another 100.00 of quarters that the dpt office.
it's such a scam!
Shut up & pay up. Gavin's staff needs the dough.
Parking cards were handy but my spare change began to pile up pretty high. If I could find more panhandlers I'd go back to the card.
Damn it! I wanted to make a witty, sarcastic comment on how cars=Evil and bikes=Sainthood and how you don't want to be Evil, do you? But, someone made such a comment in earnest.
Next time, next time.
In places with accountable governments, broken meters mean you don't have to pay until they're fixed. But SF uses parking tickets as a fundamental revenue stream for its bloated ineffectual government, so of course, they wouldn't have any fair policies here.
I love the environmentalist argument for not accommodating parking. Half the mileage tacked up in the city is by cars circling blocks looking for parking, and the rest is taxi cabs.
The only solution to this problem is better public transit--firing that incompetent $315k/yr head of transportation would be a good start. Brow-beating car drivers will get us nowhere.