A parent was ticketed for parking in a school zone while he carried his injured daughter into the building at Carnell School. Image/Google Maps

Philly residents’ contentious relationship with the Parking Authority is no secret.

And it’s frequently the subject of Ronnie Polaneczky’s Daily News column, as it was yesterday when she documented the experience Kevin Mills had while dropping his daughter off at Carnell School in Oxford Circle. continue reading »

Since they were installed in 2005, the red-light cameras along Roosevelt Boulevard at Red Lion Road and Grant Avenue have resulted in a decrease in the number of traffic violations at those intersections, according to a new campaign video released by the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

The video explains the state’s red-light camera program, walks viewers through the violation process and focuses on a handful of intersections the PPA says have been made safer thanks to the cameras. continue reading »

First announced in June 2011 and installed this past July, three red-light cameras in the Far Northeast will be activated at the end of this week.

The cameras at Bustleton Avenue and Byberry Road, Academy Road and Grant Avenue, and Woodhaven and Knights roads will go on at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 19 – Thursday night into Friday. continue reading »

The intersection of Rising Sun and Adams avenues is now equipped with a red light camera.

As part of the city’s ongoing crackdown on red light-runners, two more red light cameras have been installed — one in Roxborough, the other at Rising Sun and Adams avenues. continue reading »

Two Northeast residents owe the Philadelphia Parking nearly $35,000 from a combined 300+ tickets.

The Parking Authority released its list of Top 25 Ticket Scofflaws, and two NEasters fall in the top 10. We’ve decided not to publish their names, as their home addresses are public, but the two unrelated offenders hail from Lawncrest and Mayfair, and owe the PPA a combined total of $34,325.

I can’t help it – I like Garfield.

Faithful viewers of the A&E cable television series Parking Wars know of whom I speak. Garfield is one of the many interesting and loveable – yes, I said lovable – characters whose day-to-day lives working for the Philadelphia Parking Authority are put on display for the viewing public. Garfield and his partner Sherry travel the streets of Philadelphia, booting vehicles owned by motorists who owe a lot of money for parking and other violations. Needless to say, they encounter their fair share of angry citizens along the way.

It is the televised altercations that are captured on video while booting, towing and waiting in line at the impound lot that has brought the Parking Authority and Parking Wars under fire in recent weeks. The show was blamed Sunday in a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial for potentially hurting the city’s tourism industry. One angry reader called the Parking Authority a “disgrace,” and demanded that it be overhauled.

I understand being mad at the Parking Authority. I’ve been there. continue reading »