Considering the heavy traffic flow in the city, it’s easy to understand that the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) is doing what they can to make sure things here won’t upset those foreign visitors. Yu Chunquan, the director of the transportation department for the BOCOG, told the press recently that there will be no parking spaces for private cars at Olympic stadiums. Instead, Citizens are encouraged to take public transportation to the stadiums. Well, what other choices do we have?
The municipal government will introduce 34 Olympic bus routes totaling about 260 kilometers in length by the end of July for the convenience of the stadium-goers. Some of the buses will be running for 24 hours a day. That said, it doesn’t take a genius to think of parking his car somewhere near those stadiums, though people with an Olympic ticket can get free bus rides easily. (Look, but don’t park,at some Beijing stadium pictures below.)
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It just continues to get more difficult for motorist in the UK. With high gasoline prices, congestion charges, and new registration taxes, car owners are hit up for cash at almost every turn.
Brits who haven’t yet noticed for themselves, should add parking tickets to that list of expenses, as a new report tells that the number of drivers issued parking infractions has risen 500 percent in the last six-years. The UK’s Traffic Penalty Tribunal recently issued its annual report, which told of more than 3.5 million parking tickets issued during the 2006-07 financial year. That number is up from just 800,000 tickets six years ago, and represents more than $428 million worth of fines.
What’s worse, those numbers only account for tickets issued by parking enforcement agents, and not those handed out by police officers. Add in tickets from the cops and the number for last year balloons to over eight million. Keep that meter change handy folks.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
We suppose there really is no end to gameshow ideas when it comes to Japanese culture. Perhaps what is most inspiring is how it really doesn’t take incredible feats of mankind to create interesting drama — just a little theme music, some graphics, an audience, and an excited announcer. You could even create a great show about…parking.
New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg is coming under fire lately. His plan to charge an $8 congestion charge for the city’s traffic has not gone over lightly. In fact, people are outraged.
Now, parking scandal is fueling the fire. It seems that the city has issued 142,000 free parking passes to its employees – 500 of which belong to the Mayor’s office.
The congestion charge was proposed to fight the city’s traffic and emissions, but for who? Environmentalists and congestion charge fighters are furious. They claim the free parking passes encourage the city employees to drive everywhere instead of utilizing the public transit systems the Mayor urges everyone to use. So, who’s the traffic being cut down for? The city’s employees?
The Mayor has since said that they will be reducing the number of free parking passes. But, do you think he’ll still have one?
Well, because it’s Sunday and the weekend’s parking duties are especially difficult when you’re out for a night on the town; we’ve decided to post this video proving that no matter how bad you are at parking – or, driving – you’re probably not as bad as these people.
Now, some of these may be photoshopped or purposefully placed in a predicament, but it doesn’t change the fact that some of these slapdash drivers got more than they bargained for.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Parking in a major metropolitan can be worse than a root canal: Endless circling in a one-square block area for what can seem like hours.
California-based ParkingCarma has created a solution to the parking dilemma. The company – which utilizes Kettering students for its site – offers a Web site where you can research parking areas in 70 U.S. cities.
ParkingCarma installs sensors at the parking garage to maintain an accurate number of vehicles in the lot and how many spaces are available. Users can use the internet, phone or wireless device to find and reserve a space. The company hopes to one day be utilized via in-car navigational systems.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
When South San Francisco resident Michelle Vuckovich’s 2000 Honda Civic was stolen from her apartment’s garage on September 26, she thought she had done all she could do by calling the police. And indeed, within 30 minutes of her phone call, an officer had taken her statement, filed a report, and submitted the car’s make and license plate number to a statewide computer database of stolen cars.
Unfortunately for Vuckovich, that didn’t stop her from receiving a parking citation in the mail a few weeks later, telling her that the car had been ticketed in San Francisco proper just hours after it was reported stolen.
(Click through the jump to read on about the stolen Civic and its tickets.)
In a less than shocking piece of news, Atlanta residents don’t seem to care much for the parking meters in their city.
This conclusion comes after learning that the city of Atlanta has had to replace nearly 40 percent (around 500 units) of its parking meter inventory this year due to theft. What’s worse is that police say the thefts that go unreported (we’ll just guess that’s a majority), go uninvestigated. This, despite the high price of each meter, about $500 per.
Deputy commissioner of the Atlanta’s transportation office, Sandra Jennings, believes that the person or persons responsible are taking the meters for the change inside.
“Someone was actually cutting the pole and taking them so they could somehow open the meter head to get the money out,” said Jennings.
We can only suggest that concerned Atlantans keep a sharp eye out for Paul Newman fans, and as usual, disgruntled city workers.
A Houston man lead police on a 25-mile, 40-minute chase through the city on Monday night, causing three wrecks, jumping several curbs, and destroying the wheel of his stolen GMC Yukon in the process.
His reason for such an act of recklessness and civic malfeasance? He claimed that his parking brake was stuck and he couldn’t stop.
(Click through the jump to read on about the police chase and the strange parking brake.)
A diabetic man, driven to Altrincham General Hospital, had collapsed in his car while the driver ran inside to get some help. While nurses ran from the hospital to aid the diabetic victim, an eagle-eyed meter maid took notice of the fact that the sick man’s car was parked in an ambulance bay.
Ignoring the gathering swirl of activity from nurses and paramedics attending to the patient, the intrepid meter maid continued to write the citation. According to one witness, “She finally did not give a ticket - but it took two ambulance men and the driver to persuade her that this guy had collapsed.”
Dedicated public servant, or hell’s own meter maid? You tell us in comments.
News of a small parking scandal in the Eternal City, where earlier this week the parking chief was canned for an offense that he should really have thought better of.
Giovanni Catanzaro, Rome’s traffic and parking chief, had his personal Alfa Romeo Brera towed away, after leaving it in a no parking zone. Adding fuel to the fire, Catanzaro had attempted to cover his misdeed by using an expired handicapped permit that had been previously issued to an 86-year-old woman.
Now, apart from using very bad judgment in filching a pass from an old woman, we can’t help but wonder why Catanzaro, the parking chief mind you, didn’t just have his own pass made?
An amazing toy for security nuts and Batman fans with a fancy car to protect, this video detailing the workings of the PhantomPark car lift is pretty incredible. The secure elevator moves your pride and joy under the garage floor, ostensibly to some kind of bulletproof, fireproof, or everythingproof bunker. Though we’re not completely sure how this is better than just building a really secure garage, and we would be a mite concerned about the chance of bratty grandkids being locked away, the PhantomPark device remains stupidly cool nonetheless.
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