PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Parking Authority’s recent crackdown on sidewalk parking is yielding a lot of tickets. Since the effort started in May, it has issued seven times as many tickets compared to the same timeframe last year.
Executive Director Rich Lazer has refocused the PPA on quality-of-life issues, and he said one of the most common complaints was cars parked on sidewalks.
“It really does make it impassable for someone in a wheelchair, for seniors, for parents pushing a stroller. You really are limited in getting through,” he said.
PPA teamed up with Variety, a children’s charity across the Delaware Valley, for an ADA education campaign, followed by vigorous enforcement. One day in mid-May, officers wrote nearly 1,000 tickets. Over six weeks, they totaled 14,000 — compared to 2,000 at the same time last year.
“You get more of a satisfaction out of it, I guess, because even when you’re in the neighborhoods enforcing the sidewalks, the citizens that actually live on that block, they thank you,” said Eric Rossi, parking enforcement supervisor.
Rossi has noticed a decline in sidewalk parking since the crackdown, which Lazer said is the purpose.
“The goal is not just to keep racking up tickets,” he said. “The goal is just for people to park and follow the rules. They’re there for a reason, and now, with the enforcement, people are thinking about it. … Parking on the pavement and these other things, they’re starting to drop.”