LAist: Hybrid Owners Continue to Park Coin Free It looks like the city finally extended the Los Angeles Free Parking program to 2010. However, it now only applies to Hybrids with the HOV stickers.
it doesn't make sense to me... if nobody is in the car when it's parked, why should there be a special distinction for sticker owners?
They want to give free parking to more efficient vehicles. The stickers are an easy and official way to identify those efficient vehicles. Of course, since not all efficient vehicles can get those stickers, it's not that great of an approach. On the other hand, when the regulation was a specific set of makes and models of cars, the highly intelligent cadre of parking meter enforcement personnel had great difficulty in recognizing, for example, the current Prius body style and other markings, and would give them tickets anyway. This was the case despite the fact that the Prius surely sticks out of the crowd for its distinctive, Star Wars escape pod shape. Go figure.
in view of the impending budget cuts, the city council might reverse its decision, saying hybrid owners already save on gas and don't need the added incentive
NEXT PRIUS EVENT IS Saturday 9/26/08. NEXT PRIUS EVENT IS Saturday 9/26/08. LOCATION: Griffith Park/ Mineral Wells Picnica Area TIME: 9:30 am PLAN: Prius members to meet / greet, welcome new members. caravan drive scheduled, BRING A FRIEND. COST: The venue is NO COST If you'd like to volunteer to bring refreshments (OJ, Coffee, Donuts, etc) please email the facilitator at clubofprii(at) aol (dot) com. A New Los Angeles Prius Club
FYI - I spoke with Sharika at the Dept of transportation today at 3:39pm (ladot.org) and asked her a) if hybrids were allowed to park for free - ANSWER: YES b) If you needed the HOV sticker - ANSWER: NO If you get a ticket, you can contest it. and use that date and time to say that Sharika said so and that it was recorded
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, a committee of the LA city council is again reconsidering the free parking for hybrids with HOV stickers. They are considering moving the expiration of the program to 03/01/2009.
wow how desperate can they be? taking away something that gives a nice benefit to people concerned about the environment and reliance on foreign oil... I got a ticket last week because I didn't realize they took it away, now I will never park at a meter in LA again, they won't be getting my money. Does anyone know if Santa Monica has done the same?
I'm confused. I was in West LA last week, walking away from a parking meter, assuming I got free parking with my HOV sticker. I was stopped by a parking cop who said that the program ended at the end of April (2009) and that I would get a ticket if I didn't put money in the meter. Does anyone have a link to an official page that says the deadline has been extended?
The deadline has not been extended, to my knowledge. My wife got a ticket less than 30 days after the vote to rescind free parking occurred. She had the citation dismissed, because the "judge" agreed that the city had not properly notified citizens about the change -- they were supposed to put notices on the qualifying cars for at least a month before enforcing. Meanwhile, I have neither seen nor heard of any new waiver being proposed or enacted. I always thought it was a unfair and silly exemption, anyway.
I went to my dentist appointment in Santa Monica on 3/31, they only have street metered parking there and they always feed quarters to your meters if you need it. I told them i have a Prius and asked if Santa Monica has the free meter parking. She called the city and asked and they said yes. That's so wrong that LA is giving tickets without informing people about the change. I think people should get one warning ticket--they write the ticket and the driver sends the ticket in the envelope but instead of a check, they put a note saying they were not aware that this law had changed. There would be some kind of flag in the database that the one time waiver was used. After that, if they get another ticket, they have to pay, but the first time, they are excused. I didn't know if LA had the metered parking and i did a google search just now and found this thread, so now i know.
I just found this chat forum. I got two citations in 8 days (July 31 and Aug 8) because the city did not notify people with stickers. I am hoping the judge believes me. I found out that the program ended after I got the second ticket -- I walked up to a parking violations officer and asked why I got the citation.. That was the first I heard of it. I wrote to my City Councilman. I am wondering if anyone has had to pay tickets now that the grace period is over. If I do have to pay these, I am thinking of filing a class action. Are there any other people out there who have had to pay even though they did not know? I guess I did not use much metered parking during the grace period.
I just got hit with a $50 parking ticket. I plan to contest b/c I didn't know about the March 2009 expiration date until now. We'll see how it goes...
