Cashman: Permit parking in Boston exercise in frustration

If you have just moved into the city and are looking to enjoy the benefit of residential parking, prepare for a massive headache.

If you go online today to apply for a resident sticker it states it will take three to four weeks to get one. You are not allowed to just go to City Hall and obtain a pass in person without an appointment. However, the next available appointment online through the city’s scheduling portal is Nov. 12.

So, the advice from one of the parking clerks was to simply appeal each ticket daily or spend hundreds of dollars on a garage spot while you wait several weeks for that sticker. Assuming it even comes in a month.

COVID-19 office hours for the parking clerk are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Yet parking attendants are out writing tickets Monday through Saturday.

Aren’t they wasting their time writing all these tickets when a lot of them will be appealed?

I brought all these concerns to the city and got this response from Acting Boston Transportation Commissioner, Greg Rooney: “The City of Boston is committed to ensuring all residents are able to access the City services they need in an efficient manner. While COVID-19 has changed BTD’s typical process, resident parking permits are available online, and through in-person appointments at City Hall. If any resident believes they have received a ticket in error, we want to make that right and apologize for the inconvenience.”

Until the parking office at City Hall can be open five days a week, parking enforcement should be suspended for cars without a resident sticker.

The Parking Clerk’s office is creating work for themselves that is not needed. It is also creating unnecessary work for the city employees who have to respond to all of the 311 reports. There are tons of constituents writing in about people parking without stickers, but who’s to say a lot of them just simply can’t get a sticker.

There’s no end in sight for COVID and Mayor Martin Walsh has to find another way to expand the clerk’s hours because even on Sept. 1, move-in day, tons of moving trucks parked illegally without putting up signs or had to double park because there were not large spots available which created traffic jams.

BTD is also exploring the possibility of utilizing the City Hall To Go van to allow for the distribution of resident stickers in the neighborhoods. This should be done immediately.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/35QyNcv