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GodLikesToParty t1_j5g8qxk wrote

Reply to comment by QuidProJoe2020 in why doesn't the PPA give a shit? by getnakedivegotaplan

Controversial take but the fact that I actively see PPA officers out of their vehicles and ticketing cars and while every time I see a PPD officer they’re sitting in their squad car sitting on their phone makes me want to like the PPA. At least they’re actually doing something.

However the PPA as an organization is so shady and not even run by the city and who knows where all the money from tickets actually ends up. Either way it’s a lose lose situation

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QuidProJoe2020 t1_j5g97e8 wrote

I see why its controversial, because when I see PPA writing tickets, I get pissed off lol

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AbsentEmpire t1_j5gug5n wrote

Why would PPA enforcing parking laws piss you off, is it your car they're ticketing?

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QuidProJoe2020 t1_j5gwxzm wrote

Because the idea i have to pay for parking, or be fined to park on streets we all literally pay for is a joke. They dont fix these streets nor actually take care of them during weather. However, I need to pay extra to use the streets when I already pay taxes for the streets? If they want to up property taxes, fine, but dont fine me for parking on a street we literally already pay for.

It's just the city double dipping, and its the poor citizens that a 50 dollar ticket hurts. Rich assholes already have driveways, or a spot in a lot in center city. So the majority of these fines go to people already struggling. Taxing the poor disporportionally for something the highest wage tax in the country already makes them pay for is ridiculous.

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Fattom23 t1_j5h23v2 wrote

But no matter how much we pay for the streets, the laws of physics dictate that there isn't enough space for everyone who wants to use them. Philly's parking management isn't perfect (in fact, it's awful), but the goal is to enable reasonable uses of the street for parking and disincentivize unreasonable uses. Gotta move your car eventually, so we all have some shot at the space we pay for, too. And the crosswalks/corners/hydrants are just straight safety issues.

That said, with the crosswalks, if poor people paid a small fine for blocking them, but a rich person was instead executed, I'd be on board with that.

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QuidProJoe2020 t1_j5h2sq0 wrote

Except where you pay for parking, you can literally park there all day everyday if you pay. With the new apps, you can literlly park in a metered spot and never move your car again. Metered parking id not about efficent use of space, its about $$$. This again drastically favors wealthy people.

Only places its for efficency is where its 2 hour parking but free. This requires you to move your car every two hours. Those are found in certain neighborhoods aka nicer neighborhoods that have congestion, or where devlopers pushed to make their upcoming projects worth more to buyers.Most of CC is pay for parking, so it has nothing to do with efficency.

In the nice places, like queens village or other areas around the city, the 2hour parking is for efficency, and due to homeowners pushing so they can have their own spot as they get a permit, and other ppl have 2 hours to use the street that day.

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Fattom23 t1_j5h3stk wrote

Like it or not, money is how we allocate scarce resources. If you want someone to use something for only a period, you're right: you either charge them for using it or limit the time. The problem with limiting the time is that with a strict two hour limit, everyone who's there longer has to go move their car looking for another free space (both free as in "no cost" and free as in "unoccupied") which vastly increases vehicular congestion (because cars are added to the traffic flow that would have otherwise been parked). So charging for the parking is the least bad solution. Making the parking fees will only make every single parking-related problem we've ever had even worse.

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QuidProJoe2020 t1_j5h4pih wrote

I 100% agree, but this city does not efficently allocate resources in anyway. We pay extra due to politican incompetence and corruption.

I also have no problem paying for a service i get, but paying for parking does not get me anything except saves me from getting a ticket. Lived in this city my whole life and the streets have always been shit, trash collection awful, and the city sucks as dealing with adverse weather events. The money the PPA generates literally first and foremost goes to supporting the PPA and very little, if any, actually gets us better services.

Like i said, increase property taxes, because we already have the highest wage tax in AMERICA. If that helps get good streets and proper maintence, im all for it. However, right now, all we get for paying for parking is saving ourselves a fine, and that is what pisses me off about the PPA.

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Fattom23 t1_j5h58hk wrote

I totally understand the dislike of the PPA as an organization. I can imagine a world in which there's a much better PPA (and city government in general), but the parking enforcement function is extremely important. For me, it's about controlling the parking and not really the money. That's just the least bad way to change behavior, since jailing people over it and expecting people to actually care about their fellow citizens when they make decisions about their car seem equally ridiculous.

Thanks for the perspective, though. I appreciate the thoughtfulness.

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