Add traffic ticket quotas to parking ticket quotas
We've known for years that San Francisco's meter maids/dudes have parking ticket quotas in a city that has the most expensive parking tickets in the country, a major source of revenue (see page 11) for the city ($88,889,809 in FY 2012-13). See also this, this, and this.
Now we have traffic ticket quotas for the SFPD. From the SF Examiner:
Last year, the Police Department committed itself to protecting the public from a dangerous weapon: speeding vehicles. As part of the effort, the department said it would increase traffic citations of the most dangerous driving behaviors, seen as key in lowering pedestrian deaths in The City. But a recent review of Police Department citation data shows only one police station out of 10 is meeting its goal to increase driver citations: Richmond station. The other nine lag behind.
The problem with quotas is that it already encourages parking control officers to issue tickets just to meet their quotas. But giving out parking tickets is really the only thing those folks do, whereas city cops have other equally important duties.
And the obligatory reference to Vision Zero:
The City has committed to end all traffic deaths by 2024, in a safety priority called Vision Zero. The Vision Zero strategy involves re-engineering dangerous intersections to make them safer, safety education and safety enforcement---the last of which is the Police Department’s responsibility.
Unless the city knows how to "re-engineer" human nature, that goal can't possibly be achieved, since members of our species sometimes indulge in unsafe behavior with fatal consequences no matter how well streets are designed or policed. And it seems unlikely that the SFPD has enough manpower to assign cops just to meet the quotas.
Vision Zero isn't really policy; it's just a slogan. But it sounds good and pleases the Bicycle Coalition and Walk San Francisco, much like the unattainable slogans from days of yore, 20% by 2020 and 10% by 2010. Neither goal was possible to achieve, and all trips by bike in the city remain stubbornly below 4%.
Labels: Anti-Car, Bicycle Coalition, City Government, Cycling and Safety, Examiner, Parking, Traffic in SF, Vision Zero
posted by Rob Anderson @ 1:51 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
What exactly do you think would happen if street parking goes unenforced? Aren't you the same person whose heart bleeds for those who can't find parking? You seem to live in a fantasy world where parking is scarce yet shouldn't be metered or enforced. You have to pick at least one.
The city's predatory parking policy is not about enforcing the law; it's about raising money to support its growing bureaucracy.
More enforcement has to happen, otherwise everyone can point at everyone else's not following the rules for their own malfeasance. But, I don't care for the language of "increasing citations" being the end goal versus "decreasing bad behavior". Also don't care much for the finger, as usual, being pointed solely at drivers.
Furthermore, the fact that we have major governments (state, city) and major bodies of government (whatever entity manages water in the state) that depend on people screwing up and violating the laws is completely untenable. If the law is there to discourage a behavior, then if the behavior goes away then no action should be taken. But when the cash machine starts grumbling, they change the laws, or increase rates, etc. You can't say it's about anything other than raising cash when the Government keeps moving the goalposts.
Ah so people are minding their own business, paying for parking, and leaving when they need to in order to make parking available for others that need it, but somehow are getting tickets for simply doing nothing wrong.
You didn't explain what should be happening here to make parking available when it's scarce by your claims. All you're doing is bitching and labeling.
"Making parking available" is not the issue here. Instead, it's a predatory City Hall that gives traffic control and the SFPD ticket quotas regardless of violations per se. The SFMTA needs the money to maintain its growing bureaucracy.
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