GPS Sensors Could Cut Down Number Of LA Street-Sweeping Tickets
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — New GPS sensors that can track when a street has already been swept could help Angelenos escape the scourge of the ever-present threat of a street-sweeping parking ticket.
The GPS sensors were installed to help city officials determine the most efficient sweeping routes, but Bureau of Street Services officials are also following a recommendation by a "parking reform" task force to use the data to reduce the issuance of unnecessary street sweeping-related parking citations.
The devices have been installed on all of the city's 100 street sweeping vehicles, and they will test the technology over the next six months, officials said.
In the meantime, the bureau will also conduct a pilot program on select streets, using real-time data to prevent traffic officers from issuing tickets to vehicles parked on streets that a sweeper has already passed through.
The costs for incorporating the data onto the devices of traffic officers is still not known, city officials said.
City officials are also looking into the possibility of making the data available to the public via a website or app.
The city spent $150,000 to buy and install the GPS sensors and spent another $30,000 for the monthly subscription to the GPS service. However, funds have not been earmarked for maintaining or replacing the equipment.
Information from the GPS system will be given to Xerox, the city contractor that issues the parking citations. The city departments involved in the project are expected to report back to the Transportation Committee in October on their progress.
The city gave out more than 642,000 citations for street sweeping parking violations last fiscal year, ending June 30, which comes out to about $46.9 million, a transportation department spokesman said. The $73 street sweeping citations represent about one-fourth of the parking citations given out by the city, he said.
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