Sunday, May 4, 2008

Letting trucks get away with anything

The DOF Stipulated Fine Program, started in 2004, includes a secret fine schedule for participants which eliminates fines for many parking violations, including double parking and parking at expired meters. (In other words, truckers in the program can park forever at an expired meter.) It also reduces fines for dangerous parking activity like blocking a fire hydrant, parking in a traffic lane, parking on the sidewalk, blocking a crosswalk, and parking in a bike lane.

In return, businesses in the program agree not to contest fines for these and other violations, thereby maximizing revenues for the city while encouraging illegal parking.

Intro 637, introduced by David Yassky, David Weprin and Simcha Felder, would convert the controversial Department of Finance program, which was begun in 2004, from a regulation into a permanent city law.


Council Considers Eliminating Truck Parking Fines

Yes, this makes perfect sense. Encourage illegal parking by the very vehicles that cause traffic congestion by doing so. Brilliant.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah well a lot of company's like Time Warner get a bulk discount on their parking tickets. They pay like $5 a ticket or something so it doesn't really matter how many tickets they get and then they write it off.

Unknown said...

The problem will keep getting worse because street that used to allow trucks to unload during certain hours now have parking meters. These trucks are making deliveries to local businesses already hurting. Stop building homes without room for parking! Allow streets with businesses to get deliveries during business hours and these trucks won't have to do things illegal.

Anonymous said...

If I get a parking ticket I have two choices:

1. Pay it.
2. Fight it.
3. I don't get an UPFRONT DISCOUNT - which is what FED EX and UPS get. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about who I double park and block in either.

Geez. Has the City really gone nuts?