Archives for February 2007
Delayed WPI notification
27 February 2007 | Ban, Technology | No Responses
Another progression of events; Monday, February 26, 2007:
- 7:30 a.m.: declared parking ban goes into effect
- 7:39 a.m.: ParkingBan first learns of the declared parking ban
- 7:55 a.m.: ParkingBan’s e-mail notification of parking ban declaration sent/received
- 9:32 a.m.: WPI Police e-mail notification of parking ban declaration received by WPI staff and faculty
- 3:21 p.m.: WPI Police e-mail notification of parking ban declaration received by WPI undergraduate students
Unexpected press
27 February 2007 | Updates, Ban, Media | 1 Response
I did expect that the parking ban would be declared this week, and it was. I didn’t expect, however, that ParkingBan would get a mention in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. I had had some conversations recently about more involvement with the city. From the February 27, 2006 T&G:
In addition to parking and other issues, councilors will consider a measure to invite the creator of a new parking Web site, www.parkingban.org, to a meeting of the council’s Committee on Traffic and Parking to talk about the site’s services.
…the [ParkingBan] Web site is supposed to instantly alert registered users by e-mail and text message when snow bans — which require drivers during snowstorms to park only on a certain side of the street or not at all on some streets — are in force.
I was excited to see this article, and I am excited about opportunities to further partner with the city. I posted the following response in the comments section of the online version of the article:
I am the person behind ParkingBan and the one identified only as “Adam” on that blog. To clarify: the purpose of the Web site and AOL Instant Messenger buddy is to alert and inform users of the parking ban. It is not necessarily a venue for complaints, but they will not be filtered if posted. I did post a progression of events from Friday, and I do understand the urge for residents to use common sense when parking. I simply question the judgment of declaring the ban after the snow had stopped. I am in full partnership with the city and hope to strengthen that relationship.
The article is available on the Telegram & Gazette Web site.
Confused
23 February 2007 | Updates, Weather, Ban, DPW | No Responses
I am not sure why there was a parking ban declared this morning at 5 a.m. By then the snow had already stopped, and there was no snow cover on emergency arteries.
A sequence of events, February 23:
- 5 a.m.: declared parking ban goes into effect
- 6 a.m.: nightly permanent parking ban ends
- 6:07 a.m.: ParkingBan first learns of the declared parking ban
- 6:24 a.m.: winter parking ban ticket received
- 7:32 a.m.: Worcester winter parking ban Web site updated with ban declaration information
If I did not even know about the parking ban until over an hour after it was in effect, how can the city expect that people who do not make the parking ban their hobby to know about it? Granted ParkingBan’s notifications could have went out slightly sooner… but if cars were being ticketed within minutes of first announcement of a declared ban, it makes me wonder if cars in other parts of the city were being ticketed even before that first announcement.
Parking makes the world go ’round
16 February 2007 | Updates, Weather, Media | No Responses
The Worcester parking ban was lifted this afternoon following the Valentine’s Day storm that left eight to ten inches of snow and ice. A few items of note:
- A parking ticket fiasco in New York City follows this storm: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/nyregion/16cnd-parking.html
- Some independent praise for ParkingBan: http://radioball.net/index.php/2007/01/30/parkingban
- More coverage in Worcester Magazine blog log: http://www.worcestermagazine.com/content/view/1124
A major storm
13 February 2007 | Weather, Ban, DPW | No Responses
The largest winter storm of the season is working its way toward New England this afternoon, and as a result the DPW&P has declared a parking ban which will go into effect tonight at 11:45 p.m. Reports are calling for anywhere between 6 and 16 inches. As with any storm, it is often difficult to predict. Regardless, this storm will be the biggest of the season thus far.
The weather rainbow
13 February 2007 | Weather | No Responses
The National Weather Service maintains a map of the United States displaying current weather watches and warnings. Individual counties across the country are highlighted in various colors during various weather events. During a major weather event, these highlighted counties can stretch multiple states. The result is what I like to call “the weather rainbow.” Check it out at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/wwa/wwa.gif.
January 29
12 February 2007 | Updates | No Responses
What happened on January 29? That was the only day thus far this winter that ParkingBan did not receive a message. I hope there are not many more days like that.
Almost 400
12 February 2007 | Updates | No Responses
ParkingBan has spoken to almost 400 people and almost 70% of its buddies are signed up for active notifications of the Winter Parking Ban. Here’s some other fun facts:
Number of IMs sent/received: 21,587
Learned responses: 527
Popular words: yes, no, help, hi, hello, skip, hey, Kate, WPI, bye, Adam
Users since 01/01/2007: 76
Records of street information: 2,853
4 out of 5 of our top users are girls, so yes, girls talk way more than boys!
Fighting the law
8 February 2007 | DPW | No Responses
Last winter I received many Worcester parking tickets some of which I did not think were valid. I appealed them to the parking administrator; not all of them were dismissed, but some of them were indeed reduced. That is a story for another day.
I recently learned of someone I know who received a parking ticket this winter, appealed it, and had it completely dismissed. His story, and some documentation, follows.
Patrick parked his car on Institute Road near the WPI football field but farther up the road from Park Avenue than the light post marking the end of the legal parking zone. After receiving a ticket, Patrick took photos (below) of the approximate location of where he parked and the sign indicating the area of no parking. He included the photos with a letter to the parking administrator and had a friend sign the letter as well to verify his statements. Shortly after, Patrick received a letter (below) dismissing his ticket, and he also noticed that the faded sign had been replaced.
Photos of the location of Patrick’s car was parked and the “sign” indicating no parking (click for larger view):
Copy of the letter Patrick received dismissing his ticket (click for larger view):
If you have stories of parking or tickets, please send them to blog@parkingban.org.
A wild week!
7 February 2007 | Weather, Ban, Technology, DPW | 3 Responses
Last week was wild! First of all, I had a few internal issues which did not allow for updates to this site, but everything should be back to normal now. Sorry for the hiatus!
Anyway, there were three declared parking bans in Worcester last week! Each had me a little bit confused:
- Tuesday, January 30: The ban was declared late in the afternoon to go into effect at 10 p.m. The weather forecast called for less than one inch of snow, so the only reason I could imagine there was a declared ban is that the folks at DPW&P were getting antsy and wanted to declare a ban before January was over. Sure enough, there was hardly a trace of snow and no real reason for a ban. My notifications did work though! Did you notice the change in the Web site banner?
- Thursday, February 1: A mysterious declared parking ban. The city did not let me know of this ban, and I am still skeptical whether there actually was one. I did not find out until the next morning when I received notification that the ban was lifted! No notification went out, but there was no snow anyway. Certainly there was a miscommunication somewhere!
- Friday, February 2: Despite the prediction of an early spring, there was snow in the forecast once again. Still this time the forecast called for less than one inch. The trend of the week led to a declared parking ban in effect as of 8 p.m. I didn’t think it was necessary due to the timid forecast, but my notifications went out anyway. The Worcester officials must have had different information than me, though, because several inches fell!
One other enhancement: if you ask me “Is there a parking ban?” I will now respond definitively with an answer of whether or not a parking ban is declared.
Happy Parking!
