Thwarting the DPT...One Block at a Time

[desmoquattro]

San Francisco's in a bit of a budget mess this year, so I guess this makes me a villain. But sometimes sticking it to the man just feels right.

I walked out today to go to Munroe Motors for some parts, and as I turned onto 15th St I noticed a lone DPT Cushman coming up the street, issuing tickets en masse. It's Saturday morning, so a lot of cars parked overnight and their owners haven't been able to come out and feed the meters. And the DPT just queues meter maids up right before meter hours start so they can maximize revenue. They've been tagging as many people as possible, issuing very questionable citations (Chris from MotoJava got one for not curbing his wheels...he was parked on a flat block) as quickly as possible, then scurrying off to the next victim.

Having been victimized by the DPT on several occasions, I saw red. But instead of getting in the guy's face and risking arrest, I decided to beat him at his own game. I fished out my coin holder, surreptitiously walked up to every expired meter, and started feeding in quarters. I even managed to cross the street several times to feed meters on the other side without being seen. After saving 7 cars from tickets between South Van Ness and Mission, I decided to continue my altruism all the way to Valencia. In that block alone, I managed to save 10 people from expensive tickets. I made it to Valencia, stood on the corner waiting for the light to turn, and the meter maid pulled up...By that time I had run out of quarters, and had used my parking cards to save the last couple of vehicles. I made sure I was holding those parking cards in plain view as the meter maid pulled up to the intersection, scowled at me, then went on his way. Score one more for the little people.

[Labbedds]

Awesome But how much time does a quarter give you on the meters?  This sole reason is why I ride the bike now and no more car.  I was getting so many tickets in the city that it just wasn't worth it anymore. 

[desmoquattro]

Awesome But how much time does a quarter give you on the meters?

Just enough time for the meter maid to pass that car up. About 10 minutes around here.

[Labbedds]

Well done...

[johnc]

good on ya dq ... fook the dpt!!!

[NORCAL510]

I tried that method once (being nice and and feeding the meter for a random citizen) in WC, the po wrote the ticket anyways. the po was extremely rude and asked if it was my car, i said no and po insinuated that if it was my car he would write me another ticket for "feeding the meter."

i tried calling and filing a complaint against the -ahem- but got the "S.T.F.U." from dispatch saying po was in the rite.

[mostrobelle]

I've heard it's illegal to feed a meter that's not yours and that you can actually get cited for it.    on both counts... Don't know if that's true, so I'm careful not to be seen feeding meters.  I generally will give a meter a dime or a nickel or two if it's right next to mine and it's expired.  Payin' it forward... 

[desmoquattro]

I've heard it's illegal to feed a meter that's not yours and that you can actually get cited for it.    on both counts... Don't know if that's true, so I'm careful not to be seen feeding meters.  I generally will give a meter a dime or a nickel or two if it's right next to mine and it's expired.  Payin' it forward... 

It probably is...but it's only illegal if you get caught

[Desmostro]

sweet! 

Em just got one of those 'Non-curbed wheels' tickets on a flat street as well. They seem to be all about the greed these days. makes me kind of sick.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Metered parking nearly always has a time limit -- you cannot just keep stuffing quarters into the parking meter. If the meter (or signs) say, for example, "2 Hour Parking", you can not stay at that meter for more than two hours, no matter how much money you put into the meter.

[mostrobelle]

Metered parking nearly always has a time limit -- you cannot just keep stuffing quarters into the parking meter. If the meter (or signs) say, for example, "2 Hour Parking", you can not stay at that meter for more than two hours, no matter how much money you put into the meter.

Yup, yup.  I forgot about that.  And have many times.  I've erased a lot of chalk marks on my tires in my day.    They have a new system now though.  I still get tickets even if I don't see the chalk... 

Parking tickets are part of living in a big city, and I'm not necessarily opposed to it, despite the fact that meter-maids are Satan's spawn.  We should make more of an effort to discourage cars and encourage public transportation. When I lived in Copenhagen parking was like 65.00 USD a day.  It was insane.  And guess what--bicycling was really, really popular even in Denmark's winter.  Yeah, we've got hills, but they've got cold.  Buses, trains, etc. weren't all that much more prevalent than they were in SF.  The big difference was the bicycles.  And, no, they didn't have all sorts of super-safe bicycle only routes and the city footprint seemed about the same as SF--maybe even bigger.  They had signs on the buses saying to watch out for bicyclists.  Apparently all sorts of folks get run down on bikes as they exit the bus if they ain't lookin'. 

Just one gal's opinion.  I rarely take a car when going into SF and when I do.  It's generally not worth the headache or money. 

[Popeye the Sailor]

Typically if I cage it in, it's on a weeknight, or weekend, so....meters and parking aren't really an issue.

[sfarchie]

You just made my evening. Thank you!

[desmoquattro]

Parking tickets are part of living in a big city, and I'm not necessarily opposed to it, despite the fact that meter-maids are Satan's spawn.  We should make more of an effort to discourage cars and encourage public transportation.

Yes, yes yes. Cars are one of SF's biggest problems: too many of them in too small a space. And they've been my mortal enemy for years...on foot, on bicycles, and on the Duc. I'm in favor of things like $20 peak-hour bridge tolls, expensive parking spaces, and a city-imposed progressive vehicle registration surcharge.

But to my mind, there's a clear difference between creating incentives for good behavior and bilking people to alleviate a structural budget crisis...especially when the people you're bilking tend to be low-income or middle-income people who do nothing more heinous than wake up a little late...or fail to curb their wheels on a flat block. Policy is one thing, but arbitrary and capricious enforcement of that policy is unacceptable. And it's fun to stick it to 'em sometimes

[mostrobelle]

Yes, yes yes. Cars are one of SF's biggest problems: too many of them in too small a space. And they've been my mortal enemy for years...on foot, on bicycles, and on the Duc. I'm in favor of things like $20 peak-hour bridge tolls, expensive parking spaces, and a city-imposed progressive vehicle registration surcharge.

But to my mind, there's a clear difference between creating incentives for good behavior and bilking people to alleviate a structural budget crisis...especially when the people you're bilking tend to be low-income or middle-income people who do nothing more heinous than wake up a little late...or fail to curb their wheels on a flat block. Policy is one thing, but arbitrary and capricious enforcement of that policy is unacceptable. And it's fun to stick it to 'em sometimes

There's really nothing arbitrary about it.  They happen to everyone.  You park in a space within the metering times, don't move your car, and you get a ticket.  Parking permits should be available in the area for permanent residents.  I write a letter to fight my parking tickets every time.  Doesn't mean that I didn't deserve the ticket--it just means that like you, I try to fight the system...a little.   

Now the wheel curbing deal I don't get...I've heard that DPT is cracking down, and this isn't the first time I've heard about someone getting a ticket for failure to curb their tires on "flat" ground.  I've been doing a little research but can't find anything.  I'm going to guess that there's a minimum slope percentage that makes the curbing thing kick in.  It's probably very low and looks "flat" to most of us.