Barbara Howard: Parking tickets — we've all gotten one, and some of us have gotten, let's say, more than one. The Boston Business Journal has come out with a report showing where Boston parking tickets are handed out most frequently. Joining us now is the Boston Business Journal's David Harris, who has been looking into this. Thanks for being with us, David.
David Harris: Thanks for having me.
Howard: So you looked at parking ticket data in Boston over a one-year period — that was from July 1 of last year to June 30 of this year. Where are the hot spots in the city?
Harris: Well they're kind of typical places that you'd probably think of — Back Bay, so a big shopping area, in addition to Fenway and near BU.
Howard: Well so what kind of violations were you looking at?
Harris: So we looked at the biggest revenue generators by different violations. So there's 36 different violations, and the biggest one, by far, was resident-only parking spaces, and you can imagine a lot of people come into town and they don't have a resident parking sticker and they just find a good spot. And unfortunately, for them, they wind up with the ticket. And then the second biggest revenue generator was unpaid meter fees. They both brought in about $5.6 million dollars into the city's coffers.
Howard: Well let me look at that resident parking that you're talking about. I'm looking at the map — Financial District, Fenway Park - that doesn't surprise me at all seeing the big spots on the map showing that those are big places that generate revenue for resident parking. Now, the unpaid meters — that seems to be mostly, what, around Back Bay? South End? Is that all the shopping that's going on there?
Harris: They varied, but definitely people coming into town probably not paying their meters or just neglecting to look at the signs at the meters. So definitely around that area, and then around 136 Harrison Ave., which is around Tufts Medical near Chinatown. There were a lot of people parking at resident parking-only spaces around there.
Howard: So how much money did the City of Boston make in giving out all these parking tickets?
Harris: Well, for the last fiscal year, which is the same time period that we talked about, the city generated about $61 million in revenue, which is actually up from about three years ago when the city made about $57 million dollars in revenue from parking violations.
Howard: One of the things that really caught my eye was a big red dot, and its code says that it's for double parking. Can you guess where that is?
Harris: I would guess North End.
Howard: You got it. That's right. Anyone who's gone to eat, going down Hanover Street looking for a parking spot, there they are, all those double parked cars. So ... there’s some things that aren't too surprising. Would it be all right to post your map to our website?
Harris: Absolutely.
Howard: OK, thanks so much for being with us, David.
Harris: Thank you.
Howard: That's David Harris of The Boston Business Journal. He's been looking into where the City of Boston hands out the most parking tickets.
Read David Harris' full article and see his map on Boston parking tickets here.