Predatory government

Priceonomics

This story the other day in the Chronicle read like a MTA press release (Parking officer’s career is no ticket to popularity) about a regular meter guy just trying to do an unpopular job.

The reporter didn't ask him any uncomfortable questions, like How many tickets are you expected to issue every day? That is, what's your quota? Governments hate to admit there is such a thing, but there obviously is, as has been verified over the years (See No matter what you call it, it's a quota, Meter guy issued "as many citations as I could...", and Parking meters: "Managing" parking or about "revenue benefits" for the city?).

The latest Transportation Fact Sheet tells us how much "revenue" the meter maids/dudes bring in: Parking meters (page 9) made $53,738,314 and parking tickets (page 12) made $88,261,220 for what the City Treasurer calls our "predatory government."

It's not just San Francisco, though we apparently have the most expensive parking tickets in the country. See also Revenue-Hungry Cities Mess with Traffic Lights to Write More Tickets and Make Driving More Dangerous.