[jedberg]

While I respect that this sucks for bikers, I gotta side with the Mayor on this one.

There is a limited budget for enforcement, and it makes sense to focus that enforcement on crimes that cause loss of life or serious harm first.

And frankly, the economy of NYC would come to a screeching halt if people couldn't double park to make quick stops. The cost of delivering anything would go up significantly to account for the cost of parking and time spent circling for legal parking at every drop-off, or the cost of all the fines.

Also, you probably should have started with, "And I understand some of this is a state issue, but can you clarify which parts are a state issue and which parts are things NYC could do?". That would have been a lot better than "And don't tell me it's a state issue!!"

[grogenaut]

This type of enforcement pays for itself. Quick google search shows $115-150 for blocking a bus lane by standing parking or other means. Same price for bike lanes. That's $115 for a few minutes of work while on patrol or checking meters. You get 4 in an hour (seems likely) you're doing very well.

Ever heard of speed traps? Jurisdictions that pay for themselves by ruining a stretch of highway. Same deal here.

I'm not saying this is a good thing. However saying that it's "limited budget for enforcement" is just wrong. It is in fact a "Revenue Generation Opportunity".

[jedberg]

That only works if everyone in town knows about it and you only catch tourists. If you start nailing locals for something they do all the time, they get really upset.

[konschubert]

Maybe they should stop parking in bike lanes then.

[rootusrootus]

Perhaps. But usually what happens when city gov't starts relentlessly targeting their own citizens with what amounts to revenue generation via enforcement, the citizens effect change in the gov't so it stops.

[kazagistar]

Seems good: make the law reflect reality, rather then fake laws with no enforcement.

[grogenaut]

NYC still has automated red light cameras... well known to piss people off. So I would say experimentally you are wrong.

[DanBC]

That didn't seem to have stopped the enforcement efforts in places like Missouri.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pqskm

[jgust]

In your example, double parking sounds like a symptom of a larger problem: too many vehicles on the street and not enough parking.

Reform & enforcement should be focused on the root of the issue: more temporary parking & to make it more expensive & less convenient to own and store a vehicle in the city.

[StudentStuff]

There will never be "enough" parking in urban areas, and attempting to force there to be "sufficient" parking is how you end up with suburban sprawl & extremely expensive high density development.

Parking can never cover its own cost per square foot, hence why there is so little of it outside what the government provides or mandates.

Stronger enforcement via ticketing and towing is the quickest means to clear the bus lanes and bike lanes, after that adding barriers to the most illicitly parked in areas is the next step.

[Faark]

I agree with strong enforcement. Only then will people see the actual value of a parking spot and thus can it cover its own cost.

I don't understand the "there will never be enough" part. No one is saying there wont ever be any cases of double parking. But this discussion is about reducing its frequency to some acceptable threshold, something certainly possible. It will certainly cost, just like double parking does.

[discoursism]

There are a lot of private parking garages in NYC. Are those all government mandated?

[mentat]

That's why they're doing stop and frisk and writing people up on drug charges right?

[jedberg]

No, that's because they are racists.