Believe it or not, parking’s effects are as far-reaching as any important policy. A community’s parking options shape its culture, economics, and environment. It’s a dynamic and complicated topic: parking can reflect (or even spark) a neighborhood’s gentrifying tensions. It can empower or hamper under-served communities, like the disabled or elderly; it can create or take away billions of dollars in revenue. Parking effects pollution, safety, wealth, and, of course, accessibility. At MyParkingSign, we monitor and report the latest happenings in parking, be they bureaucratic, like increasing fines, technological, like a parking new app, or instructional, like how to manage parking legally and efficiently.
News
Teen’s Near Death Inspires No Texting While Driving Campaign
Teen texts about No Texting and Driving before driving off a cliff (via Time). August 6, 2012 — Moments before Chance Bothe drove off of a cliff, he texted: “I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident.” Irony aside, Bothe’s accident highlights the serious dangers of texting while driving.
Courageous Preteen Takes The Wheel After Grandfather Suffers Heart Attack In Driver’s Seat
Even as traffic accidents remain common, one last Tuesday had Miranda Bowman, pictured with her family above, steering the car to safety after her grandfather had a heart attack at the wheel. (via PhillyBurbs) July 31, 2012 — When twelve-year-old Miranda Bowman begged her grandfather Paul Parker to take her to a go-kart track, she […]
$2.3 Billion Air Traffic Control Plan Set To Take Flight In Long Island
Air traffic will be streamlined with the new plans for control tower modernization.) July 26, 2012 — Air traffic control has become the center of attention in the past few weeks as issues with outdated equipment and the decentralization of control towers causing delays and headaches for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). At the start […]
Traffic Fatalities Spike for First Time in Four Years
Good weather and high economy play significant roles in the caution a driver takes on the road. July 23, 2012 — For the first time in years, traffic fatalities may be on the rise. The US government began recording traffic fatalities in 1975. Since then, there has been a notable and reassuring decline in automobile-related […]
The Red Light Camera Program Controversy: How Prevention Methods May Break an Impasse
Red-light cameras are an enforcement tool against red-light runners (image via Southdacola). July 20, 2012 — The controversial Red Light Camera Program, which records drivers stopped at red lights, has reached national attention from California and Texas to Florida and New York. In each case, municipalities are fiercely debating the merits of the program to determine […]
The Ku Klux Klan Proves Adopt-A-Highway’s Most Controversial Applicant
This sign may show up on one stretch of Georgia highway, with lawsuits surrounding the KKK’s ability to participate in the Adopt-A-Highway program currently underway . July 18, 2012 — This week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed to back Georgia’s Ku Klux Klan chapter, in its efforts to participate in the state’s Adopt-A-Highway […]
California Eases Ban on Texting While Driving, Allows Handheld Devices
Using mobile phones are distracting to drivers because they divert attention that should be on the road, but most legislation focuses on hands-on devices. July 16, 2012 — Last week, California passed a bill legalizing the operation of voice-activated technology while driving. The bill, which will take effect on January 1, 2013, was initially developed […]
North American Congestion Index: Los Angeles has the worst traffic in North America
Los Angeles tops TomTom’s list of most congested cities again this year. July 13, 2012 — TomTom’s North American Congestion Index has Los Angeles, California, as the number one worst city for traffic congestion, retaining its ranking from last year. With a 33% congestion level and an average of a 40 minute delay per hour […]
New York City Begins to Optimize its Most Dangerous Streets
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, one of the most dangerous streets in Manhattan, is getting a makeover. (Via Madang) July 11, 2012 — One of the busiest avenues in New York City, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard is known as a death trap for drivers and pedestrians alike. Since the beginning of 2012, seven people […]
Parking Meters: The Flawed, the Automated, and the Downright Explosive
Parking meters randomly changing time can leave parkers ill-at-ease, with strict ticketing laws on unpaid machines (via Victor Kerlow, The New York Times City Room Blog) July 9, 2012 — Thanks to some crossed wires, mysterious time changes regularly occur at automated parking meters across New York City. Newer parking meters are generally equipped […]
Discount Bus Crashes Lead to Calls for Tougher Regulations
Coach buses and other top-heavy vehicles tend to rollover more often. Alert these drivers to slow down, especially on curves. July 6, 2012 — On the 4th of July, another discount bus crashed, igniting calls for tighter regulations and safety standards for the discount bus industry. The accident occurred at 6:20am when the bus struck the […]