The Los Angeles Department of Transportation is sucking the life out of already broke Angelenos while financially raping already impoverished university students. All under the shield of an antiquated law.
After more than 25 years, the city of Los Angeles has enacted a seemingly forgotten law: Los Angeles Municipal Code 80.53, commonly known as the "Apron Parking" law.
The "apron" is the sloped area of the driveway between the street and sidewalk many L.A. residents use to help alleviate severely congested parking.
Parking in the apron area incurs a svelte $58 ticket, however late fees can rack up to $400, and with collection fees, a simple $58 ticket could end up costing poor college students a whopping $730 dollars. If more than five tickets are accrued on any vehicle, it will be immediately impounded, according to LADOT spokesperson Bruce Gillman.
And though the newly enforced law affects all L.A. residents, those who in live the vicinity of UCLA and areas such as Los Feliz and Silverlake are throwing up arms in protest as they march the streets in defiance.
"Due to no longer being able to park on the apron, I now have to take my life into my hands after dark, crossing Beverly Glen Boulevard, [which] has no crosswalks and many speeders. I really need my apron parking back. My life is in jeopardy," commented protestor and petition signatory Christine Neilson on the "Stop LADOT" blog.
Neilson is one of more than 700 L.A. residents actively protesting against LADOT, utilizing social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and the blog site change.org, where residents can sign a petition titled "Stop LADOT." The petition currently holds 702 electronic signatures out of the 1,000 needed to be submitted to the Los Angeles City Council for further review.
Angelenos never fail to come together when money, time or selfish conveniences are in jeopardy, and the Apron law affects all of those "inalienable rights."
"It's horrible [that] we have to suffer to keep LADOT afloat. [It's] probably because they stopped those red-light tickets," said Los Angeles resident and Silverlake commuter Phil Jensen.
Despite widespread speculation that the law is being used to drum up revenue for the city, the "actual" reason enforcement began was due to recent disability lawsuits claiming ADA rights had been violated by lack of clear sidewalk space. The suits were the first, despite 25 years of an inactive law, and were spearheaded by the evil duo of urban planning professors Michael Dukakis and Donald Shoup, who claim that paying for parking could change the infrastructure of the entire U.S. economy.
More like a whole bunch of pissed off Americans rioting at Wal-Mart. We're cheap, tickets and paid parking piss us off, as it should. This is the land of the free, and parking should stay that way.
Valley students are likely accustomed to crappy parking after years of dealing with it on campus, and because of the Transfer Alliance Program, Valley has a high transfer rate to UCLA. It looks like those poor transfer students will receive little reprieve. Parking at UCLA is a steep $258 each quarter, and on a busy day, that does not guarantee a space. For the many who cannot afford to park on campus, the last affordable parking option has been slaughtered.
"I hate the bus, but it's better than tickets or spending $200 on my parking," said LADOT commuter Sheri Long. "I would just guess that you just have to wake up earlier."
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