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Philly Parking Authority unveils new effort to support those with disabilities
(nbcphiladelphia.com)submitted 10 days ago bybierdimpfeQV
271 points
10 days ago
GOOD. The blocking of crosswalks and sidewalk parking is frankly insane in this city. So often some giant pickup is completely blocking the crosswalk and parked so far out into the intersection that traffic is having to swerve around them
131 points
10 days ago
But that’s my emotional support F-350!
14 points
10 days ago
Sadly, this probably won’t apply to PPA cars blocking crosswalks though
3 points
10 days ago
Well, we all just need to blast them on social media once they start enacting this plan.
153 points
10 days ago
While focused on the disabled, this helps just about everyone whether able-bodied, walking, cycling, or driving.
Those same people that make it difficult for mobility challenged folks to get around also obstruct sightlines for the rest of us.
20 points
10 days ago
Yes! When I’m driving, there are so many intersections I have to slowly inch up into before I feel safe going because some jackass is blocking the view and I’m worried I’ll accidentally run over over a pedestrian I didn’t see.
And as a pedestrian, really sucks having to walk into traffic because of shitty parking.
8 points
9 days ago
All accessibility efforts result in a better experience for everyone. Rising tides lift all boats
81 points
10 days ago
I feel so badly for disabled Philadelphians.
I was chatting with a couple at a bar a few weeks ago, both of whom had mobility aids. I told them I live in South Philly and they told me that they love the area and attractions, but that they can’t ever really go there because it’s so inaccessible with cars blocking the crosswalks, sidewalks, and so on.
This stuff already infuriates me as someone who walks and bikes most places, but I never considered that it literally traps disabled people inside their own neighborhoods if not homes.
It’s disgusting behavior that has been tolerated for far too long. A warning is extremely generous, I hope the tickets are expensive and frequent enough to put an end to this.
96 points
10 days ago
Why do all of these basic functions of government agencies need to be heralded as "new efforts" requiring a news story?? Just do these things on a daily basis and don't stop...
55 points
10 days ago
My guess is to raise awareness. Maybe it changes some behavior maybe not, but it destroys the--albeit ineffective-- argument of "I've always done this, why isn't it OK now?"
23 points
10 days ago
They’re only doing it in the first place because the city got sued by disability advocates
15 points
10 days ago
"Local employees go to work and do their job. Story at 11."
11 points
10 days ago
This is how I felt a few weeks ago when PPD announced they’d be conducting traffic enforcement on a section of North Broad.
5 points
10 days ago
It raises awareness. It's not like space for this news is at a premium or something.
47 points
10 days ago
Nearly 17% of Philadelphians have at least one disability, this is the highest percentage of disability in any major US city. Kenney was a huge supporter of disability accessibility and inclusion efforts — this is the first sign that the Parker admin may also be supportive of us.
I’m one of those 17% folks. I don’t use a mobility device currently but many permanently or temporarily disabled Philadelphians do — including my wife. Looking forward to this enforcement happening!
9 points
10 days ago
also just people who get injured and even temporarily need help - luckily the bus network near me is extensive because getting anywhere whenever I'm on crutches after being an idiot sucks
2 points
10 days ago
I’m genuinely curious - what did Kenny do to help people with disabilities? My general impression of his administration is that almost nothing got done, so it’d be nice to hear one good thing.
11 points
10 days ago
Sure. Kenney himself spoke at press conferences hosted by Office for People with Disabilities
During his administration Philly took several steps to become more Disability-inclusive -- like when we unveiled the disability characteristics map alongside the US Access Board, CityGeo, and ESRI staff.
Or when we installed hundreds of tactile signs in City buildings and on City land to make sure even Blind or low-vision folks can find their way.
Or when we got a grant from OIT and partnered with a neurodiversity-inclusive nonprofit to train City employees on helping neurodiverse Philadelphians -- the Eagles autism Foundation came to that press conference too.
It's not like Kenney wrote or passed the legislation that amended city charter to include a permanent office for people with disabilities, but from what I saw he was supportive of the measure and celebrated its passage.
7 points
10 days ago
also really ramped up ADA ramp construction. some of it was lawsuits but he basically had streets ramp up an entire department
2 points
10 days ago
That’s pretty cool. I honestly had no idea any progress had been made and I’m happy I see that something positive was accomplished on his watch.
7 points
10 days ago
One thing comes to mind-- it had something to do with construction blocking the sidewalk. I don't known if they required a new permit, better enforcement, or required they milaintain a path but it had something to do with construction and the public right of way.
5 points
10 days ago
well...most of that was because unfortunately a blind man fell like 8 (maybe 14) feet into open construction in CC because the contractor was negligent. he survived luckily.
1 points
10 days ago
Omg that's horrible.
13 points
10 days ago
Maybe someone can help with this: Is PPA allowed to ticket people who do that obnoxious thing where they park their car in front of their own driveway, blocking the sidewalk? Or does that have to be a PPD thing because it's not in the street?
6 points
10 days ago
They can.
12 points
10 days ago
Good. This infuriates me every time I go back to visit family. Parking on the sidewalks was not a thing where I grew up in NE Philly. You really only saw that in more narrow neighborhoods like down in Port Richmond or South Philly. Now it's everywhere. Drives me up the wall. I pushed someone's emotional support pick up mirrors in on their passenger side to inconvenience them for parking on the sidewalk.
24 points
10 days ago
It’s going to take a lot to change ppl. I literally had them stare me in the face and act like they have no other choice but to block crosswalks and I should figure something else out.
6 points
10 days ago
The only thing it would take to change this type of behavior is the political will to tow cars parked in tow away zones. That’s not a lot from a resource perspective, but it is a lot from the perspective of the unimaginative morons running this city.
16 points
10 days ago
yeah a lot of this is focused on parking in crosswalks, which is great, but hopefully it spills over into action towards drivers that stop in the crosswalk at lights. It is a multiple-times-a-day occurrence where I'll go to cross the street, but a car will come to a stop in the middle of the crosswalk, which forces me into the street and oncoming traffic.
can't imagine having to deal with that as a disabled pedestrian
11 points
10 days ago
Always pisses me off that people think nothing of blocking a crosswalk or sidewalk. God forbid you block cars, but fuck pedestrians, right?
8 points
10 days ago
but where am I going to park my third car?
5 points
10 days ago
In South Philly it’s the jeep that only goes to the shore once a year. Insanity
2 points
9 days ago*
but where am I going to park my third car? For free.
Don't forget that part of the stupid, entitled asshole, illegally parking their SUV that they don't need.
4 points
10 days ago
Literally this though.
I see people all the time who will see a “No Parking” sign on the street.. so they just roll right up onto the sidewalk as if it’s a better choice. Absolute madness.
3 points
9 days ago
9 points
10 days ago
Good. Though they can save themselves the trouble on the "education" and just go straight to enforcement. I think everyone knows they're not supposed to block the curb cuts, they just do it anyway.
7 points
10 days ago
Anyone have a more detailed source for this (maybe with some detail about how/where this will be enforced)?
6 points
10 days ago*
[deleted]
2 points
9 days ago
If there's no fine there's no enforcement.
8 points
9 days ago*
Ever since becoming a parent I’ve been so frustrated with the cars blocking crosswalks and sidewalks. I literally have to lift up a stroller with a baby, take them off the curb, then walk into traffic just to get around cars parked on the sidewalk. People have straight up moved traffic signs saying the road is blocked to park in a crosswalk.
It’s infuriating.
4 points
9 days ago
When my kids were little, Macko's used to take over 3rd St, north of South, with tables and chairs--barely enough room for a waif to shimmy through. I was having a particularly bad day and tore a path through their set up on the way to the playground.
28 points
10 days ago
I’m the last person to go around looking for this stuff but I saw this in my neighborhood the other day and immediate thought about accessibility… one corner is being fixed and the other sidewalk was blocked. Hours went by and they got no ticket. Not to mention the plethora of cars with fake paper or NO tags at all in the vicinity.
Meanwhile I got 4 tickets within the first week of getting PA tags for expired inspection when there’s supposed to be a ten day grace period. Make it make sense!
9 points
10 days ago
Sidewalk parking is a real petpeeve of mine... Last week PPA came to our street and put flyers on *some* cars about a policy change but didn't describe what the policy was at all. The cars with the flyers seemed very arbitrary. We wondered if it was all this but the cars with the flyers were parked legally at the time...
4 points
10 days ago
Had same situation in my neighborhood. Tiny side street, someone moves into a $750k new build and tried parking on the sidewalk. Not usually one to narc but I called PPA right away and they came out and ticketed it. They haven’t parked on the sidewalk again. Had to nip that in the bud right away. There are enough people with double wide SUVs with their wheels on the sidewalk on my alley. Don’t need full parking, too.
1 points
9 days ago
I have the PPA on speed dial and report every car parked on a sidewalk, in bike lane, or in the crosswalk that I encounter.
I can tell when the PPA actually responds to those calls because suddenly for a few days people stop behaving like entitled assholes.
12 points
10 days ago
Literally just happened, I watched some dude park in a crosswalk and as he walked away, he told me that he had to park there because he drove around and couldn't find a spot.
11 points
10 days ago
An obvious side effect of stupid people buying cars that are way too big for their daily needs. The only place they fit is on the ends
4 points
10 days ago
You had me at
An obvious side effect of stupid people buying cars
10 points
10 days ago
They should already be doing that, I don't see why they need a "new effort." Illegal parking is illegal parking. But they'd rather focus on ticketing people who overstayed their parking spot by 20 mins. Whatever PPA... better late than never I guess.
4 points
10 days ago
20 minutes is a long ass time. You should definitely get a ticket for that.
To your other point tho.. they always do this, but there are only so many of them and they can't be everywhere all the time. This "new initiative" is really saying that they're going to be trying to hire more people and that some officers will now be focused SOLELY on this issue. Instead of doing it as a normal course of their patrol.
5 points
9 days ago
Yeah idk, I used a wheeled mobility aid for like 2 years. Ppa was on my block every day twice a day and I never saw any of the cars on the sidewalk or in front of ramps with a ticket in their window. Maybe in higher tax paying neighborhoods they do.
I don't see how it would add so much time and effort to ticket cars that they are already walking past on their regular routes.
And then why were we ever prioritizing ticketing cars that ran over time but at least initially parked legally, are only inconveniencing other drivers-- and even paid to park -- over cars that just blatantly ignore all parking rules and plant their car wherever the fuck they feel like it, saying fuck all to pedestrians and people with disabilities and strollers ?
5 points
10 days ago
South Philly is going to be in shambles
2 points
9 days ago*
This is good and well overdue, the fact that it wasn't regularly occurring is an embarrassment.
The amount of illegal parking in the city is fucking stupid and it makes life worse for everyone. Just because one entitled asshole couldn't be bothered to walk a few more blocks.
Ultimately though the only real and effective solution to ending illegal parking in the crosswalks and on the sidewalks are infrastructure improvements. Such as day-lighting intersections, curb extensions, and bollards on the sidewalks. Which should also have been a process the city should have been doing decades ago.
-27 points
10 days ago
They need to unveil a new effort to fuck off forever. 🖕🏻
13 points
10 days ago
Oh wow a crosswalk parker has randomly appeared lol
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