Results tagged “ppa”

Sorry for the late notice, folks, but today is Park(ing) Day! What's Park(ing) Day you ask? It's not a tour of our many parks but rather a day when meter parking spots across our great city get temporarily transformed into mini public parks, courtesy of activists, artists, and various non-profit groups. The event is meant to celebrate green space in cities and also raise awareness for the need for more parks and more ped-friendly spaces and the need overall for better use of public space. The event was started in 2005 in San Francisco and is now sponsored by the Trust for Public Land. It came to Philly for the first time last year and is done with the permission of the Parking Authority (see, they're not that bad). We think it's a pretty great idea and can't wait to see all the little parks. We're betting, though, that it will irk a fair share of motorists, specifically, about 30 of them.

Good Morning, Philadelphia! Welcome back to your desk. We apologize for the late news, but we're still adjusting to our Monday morning just as we suspect that you are. So, pour yourself another cup of coffee and settle in with today's highlights.


• 20 tons of trash and 130 portapotties were hauled from the Parkway this weekend. No official number yet, but they're saying "hundreds of thousands" of people showed up to Philly for the Welcome America festivities.
• The weekend wasn't without it's sad stories, however. Nationwide, five people died from fireworks, one accident occuring in Quakertown.
• Watch where you park your car on weekday mornings. The PPA is installing 17 truck loading zones where ONLY delivery trucks will be allowed to park from 6am to 10am. The PPA feels the measures are warranted due to the backups on Chestnut Street that the delivery trucks create.

• Yesterday, City Controller Alan Butkovitz expressed his displeasure with the Water Revenue Bureau for raising rates before figuring out their new billing system.
• Gotta love a pervert: "A 15-year-old girl told a jury yesterday that Hector Ayala, 59, a man she once considered family, tricked her into having sex by saying that it would ward off misfortune and help make wishes come true." Too bad Chris Hansen didn't get a hold of him first.
• A lesson to juvenile delinquents: if you're gonna do the crime, prepare to do the time. Tears will get you nowhere, especially after shooting a father of five.

And does this mean that there will finally be an end to illegal Sunday parking?

As you all know by now, the PPA has raised their ticketing rates. As you also probably know by now, the PPA cares not. Philebrity.com caught a ticket stuck in a snow covered car today. We stumbled upon our own parking ticket trauma last weekend.

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2009 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

An army of cabbies? Going up against the PPA? Where’s our sharpened sticks!

Dear PPA:

When someone offers you the chance to watch a television show and spit out your opinions on it, they probably hope that you enjoy what they're throwing at you. Well, suffice it to say that Parking Wars: Best of Season 1 falls into the category of "fun to watch because it ain't me!" True Phillyists all over the city know the Philadelphia Parking Authority means business. The PPA raked in over $70 million last year. That would pay well over 2.5 million expired meter tickets. Seriously.

Thanks to a tip from Consumerist, we hear that the majority of parking tickets in our fair city may not be, well, fair. Or, more to the point, they’re probably fair but they’re not actually valid and enforceable. According to a CBS special investigation, parking tickets given at 85% of the parking meters in Philadelphia are invalid.