More City Parking Madness (Reading, Wilkes-Barre: home, college, live)

[SteelCityRising]

I read an article in this morning's online edition of the Post-Gazette regarding a man from Mt. Lebanon who recently received a city parking ticket for parking at a city parking meter that was ironically illegally placed just 10 feet from a marked crosswalk. As a delivery driver I am quite familiar with the stretch of Penn Avenue in the Lower Strip District (roughly across from the EDMC Building/Buncher Complex) that is in question (and have indeed also parked in this same stretch), and I am alarmed to read that this man was still required to pay a fine because "ignorance of the law is no excuse". If this is the case, then is the city not being predatory and "ignorant" in and of themselves by placing parking meters in such a manner that if someone parks at them they'll be subject to a ticket regardless of as to whether or not they feed the aforementioned meter?

One thing I've noticed about this city since moving here is that well-marked yellow curbs are very hard to come by, which can make things confusing for those of us who aren't the native "yinzer" types and don't know where not to park just because "back when that place used to be the five and dime in the Jim Crow days you couldn't park there". In addition I am personally aware of the law that states that motorists should NOT park within 20 feet of a marked crosswalk; however, if I see a parking meter along the side of the road and am making a delivery I WILL plop my van there, put in a quarter or two, and then make my delivery because I'll assume if the city paid to have a meter installed there that they are making an exception to that rule and allowing people to park there to generate revenue in lieu of safety considerations for pedestrians. Why else would there be a parking meter there if not to imply it is permissible to park there? If a crosswalk was put in AFTER the meters were already installed, then either remove the meters or waive that law for that particular crosswalk and "grandfather" the existing meters.

Reading Mr. Duchene's account, especially as to how rudely he was treated by the judge, it's no surprise to me that suburbanites would rather prance around in their SUVs and frolic at Applebee's than to come visit our city and patronize our businesses. As a delivery driver I see daily how the city "plays favorites". I see U.S. Postal Service vehicles, FedEx, UPS, etc. consistently parking in front of fire hydrants and in front of "No Parking Here to Corner" signs and not being slapped with tickets as enforcement officials turn a blind eye whereas the moment the time on the meter adjacent to my own legally-parked vehicle expires I'm whammied. One of my tickets stemmed from parking BEHIND another large delivery vehicle that had its flashers on, obstructing the ability for me to see a "No Parking" sign. I'm not some sort of whiner for the sake of whining; however, if the city is going to aggressively enforce parking, then do so FAIRLY and CONSISTENTLY! Two of my tickets stemmed from time on a meter running down when gift recipients in high-rises took their sweet time tip-toeing their rear-ends down the elevators to the lobby to retrieve their packages, which I will gladly accept as being my fault for not putting enough quarters in for a "fudge factor". I can honestly empathize with Mr. Duchene, though, because I see the bias in selectively enforcing who gets citations and who doesn't day-in and day-out.

Here's the article for anyone else who may be interested:

When parking, keep your distance from crosswalk

[UKyank]

He didn't get a 'fair' verdict from the parking court judge he just got the same 'deal' that is offered to everyone that takes the time to appeal their ticket to that court where the judge (using the term judge loosely as I don't think there are any background requirements for this particular position) half listens to your case then pretends to know exactly how every single road & parking space in the city is set up, tells you how whatever argument you have is wrong, but then sympathetically agrees to wave the fees and allow you just to pay the fine.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by UKyank

He didn't get a 'fair' verdict from the parking court judge he just got the same 'deal' that is offered to everyone that takes the time to appeal their ticket to that court where the judge (using the term judge loosely as I don't think there are any background requirements for this particular position) half listens to your case then pretends to know exactly how every single road & parking space in the city is set up, tells you how whatever argument you have is wrong, but then sympathetically agrees to wave the fees and allow you just to pay the fine.

I'm miffed because this man even went through the trouble of parking his vehicle again in the same exact spot, snapping photos, and presenting them as evidence, yet the judge wasn't budging. In my personal opinion if the city plops down a parking meter somewhere they would only be doing so if they intended to permit paid parking there. I'm terrified as a delivery driver to think the precedent has been set through this article that I now have to double-check and triple-check where I park Downtown just to ensure the METER ITSELF was placed legally by the city! Will I have to take out my tape measure now and calculate distance from meter to crosswalk? I feel as if the meters in that block of Penn may pre-date the crosswalks in question; however, as I said upthread the city should have then removed the meters that were nearer than 20 feet to the marked crosswalk.

P.S. For what it's worth if anyone here has ever been to Wilkes-Barre, PA there's a mid-block crosswalk along North Main Street in the vicinity of my alma mater of King's College where people can LEGALLY park at meters DIRECTLY ADJACENT to the crosswalk.

[hnsq]

Ditch the car and ride a bike. Problem solved.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by hnsq

Ditch the car and ride a bike. Problem solved.

I don't think it's realistic for most people to ride a bike from mt lebanon to downtown.

[hnsq]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I don't think it's realistic for most people to ride a bike from mt lebanon to downtown.

From Mt. Lebanon to downtown? Why wouldn't you just take the T?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by hnsq

From Mt. Lebanon to downtown? Why wouldn't you just take the T?

Assuming this man would have to bike from his home to a "T" station in Mt. Lebanon, do the "T" stations there have bike racks? Does Mt. Lebanon have bike lanes? I'm not being a thorn in the side, but since I'm not very familiar with the South Hills and have never rode the "T" I'm just curious.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by hnsq

From Mt. Lebanon to downtown? Why wouldn't you just take the T?

I dunno, you said ride a bike not me. Though if you need any particular schedule to keep I would highly recommend against taking the T.

[Tinare]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Assuming this man would have to bike from his home to a "T" station in Mt. Lebanon, do the "T" stations there have bike racks? Does Mt. Lebanon have bike lanes? I'm not being a thorn in the side, but since I'm not very familiar with the South Hills and have never rode the "T" I'm just curious.

Outside of rush hour, you can take a bike on the "T". It's far too crowd during morning and evening commutes so they do not allow it then.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Tinare

Outside of rush hour, you can take a bike on the "T". It's far too crowd during morning and evening commutes so they do not allow it then.

Thank you. That's good to know. As I said I don't make it into the South Hills often, but it's encouraging to hear cyclists can take their bikes with them.