City Councilor Michael Flaherty (at large) says he has the solution to many of Boston's parking woes: No, not making people pay for residential parking permits, which he opposes with the blinding fury of 10,000 suns, but making people with handicap placards pay for metered spaces - and then ticketing them if they stay more than two hours.
Flaherty says abuse of the handicap placard system is rampant and too many perfectly able people get doctors who don't give a damn to sign off on prescriptions to get the placards, which currently let them park at metered spaces for free.
Flaherty has been on a tear about this, but at a hearing yesterday on the Boston Transportation Department's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, he said he's grown tired of waiting for the state to do anything about the problem - especially when it comes to burly construction workers from out of state, "capable and able-bodied folks coming from New Hampshire and Rhode Island with their pickup trucks and all their heavy equipment and tools coming to a downtown area to work on a construction site and sit there for 12, 14, 16 hours a day" - and not just in prime downtown spaces, but all over the city, taking "a very precious parking spot for someone that has been waiting for it or someone that has legitimate disability or handicap that has to get in line behind someone that's a fraud, and that's pretty disgusting."
Making placard people pay - and worry about tickets - would end the problem just like that, he said. "Circling the block, double park waiting for spots, that's going to be eliminated," he predicted, because all those construction workers, "they'll take public transportation, they may car share, they most definitely won't be driving into Boston, slapping the placard on their windshield, and ignoring the parking laws and not paying the meters."
Flaherty discusses handicap-placard abuse:
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Comments
Classic Bully Move
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 10:50am
Avoid the FiveCars problem, blame someone he considers weak and scapegoat them.
Is he working on an appointment to the Trump Administration or something?
I think it’s fair to say that
By Max Filth
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 10:59am
I think it’s fair to say that yes this is an issue and should be strongly enforced and punished. It’s also fair to say Councilor Flaherty’s obsession with this while refusing to accept any other possible reforms to the city’s parking and congestion issues is one of many reasons to not re-elect him in the fall.
Exempting disabled people from fees and time limits
By roadman
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:23am
(as well as fines) at parking spaces, which is a state law, predates the current requirements that parking spaces be provided for disabled people.
As HP-only parking spaces are now commonplace at offices, shopping malls, and the like, it's time to seriously reconsider the need for this law.
Parking meters are on the
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:30pm
Parking meters are on the street in traditional downtown areas, not offices and malls.
Street Parking
By cybah
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:25pm
What about street parking?
Unless a residence or a business REQUEST a spot (and in many cities and towns its a loooong process) to get a sign put up. Street parking HC spots are VERY rare.
We need this law. If we don't, then I expect every block to have a HC spot on it. EVERY SINGLE BLOCK.
As I said above, please tell that to a quadriplegic who still drives because they have specially equipped van. You wanna tell that person they have to 'feed a meter' ever 2 hours because "fair is fair". Good luck with that.
Regardless, disabled groups will just sue to keep the law. Once again, we're doing a knee jerk reaction to something that we just wont address and fix, which is the abuse of placards.
Case in point: Park Rangers
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 7:55pm
There are a couple of rangers who have handicap plates so they can park next to the Parks Service office near the Old State House.
The Parks Service does not have its own parking. There are no malls and the nearest garage is some distance.
Use of the street spaces means that some workers can go to work rather than draw disability or retirement.
NPS rangers?
By lobster nanny
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 9:24am
Several of the NPS rangers - seasonal and permanent - have disabilities, and are legitimately eligible for disability accommodation.
If you think the use is otherwise, I suggest you contact the park superintendent.
Huh?
By ScottB
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 2:32pm
There is a garage (in the Devonshire) maybe 200 feet away. The Pi Alley Garage is less than a block away.
They should do both...
By b from Ros
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:29am
Charging for space regardless of placard makes sense - this seems to eliminate the free parking incentive associated with placards and would likely free up space for those (with placards) that actually need it.
...and they should still do Michelle Wu's proposal.
The councilor at large
By DotRat4Eva
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:29am
Is the definition of a dot rat. Squeak squeak five cars.
Huh?
By Lmo
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:11pm
Huh?
2 consecutive Terms Limit please!
By theszak
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:34pm
2 consecutive Terms Limit for Boston City Council please!
Councilor's remarks available, scroll to bottom at https://www.boston.gov/public-notices/53521
[b]MY HOUSE ALONE, THAT WOULD BE $375, FIVE CARS, THAT'S HOW MY PROGRAM RUNS.[/b]
______________________________
LOOK FORWARD TO THE HEARING AND AGREE WITH THE PREVIOUS THREE SPEAKERS.
ONE OF THE MAIN CONCERNS I HAVE WITH THIS ORDINANCE IS ITS POTENTIAL TO COMPASSER BASE THE HANDICAPPED PARKING AND FRAUD ABUSE THAT TAKES PLACE IN OUR CITY EVERY SINGLE DAY.
THE CALLS I HEARD FROM YESTERDAY IN ANGER OF THE ARTICLE I READ IN THE PAPER MOSTLY FROM EAST BOSTON, CHARLESTOWN, SOUTH BOSTON, SOUTH END, TINSLEY, POPULATED, ARGUABLY OVERDEVELOPMENT GOING THROUGH TRANSITION AND DOING THE BEST THEY CAN TO KEEP THEIR VEHICLE ON THE ROAD, AND/OR IF THEY HAVE MULTIPLE VEHICLES.
WE SAW IT DOWNTOWN WHEN PARKING GARAGE FEES WENT UP.
THE HANDICAP PARKING AND FRAUD ABUSE ROSE BECAUSE FOLKS FROM SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES JUST GO TO THE DOCTORS FILL OUT THE FORM, GET THE NOTE AND THE APPLICATION AND GET A PLACARD, COMING IN FROM ALL PARTS NORTH AND SOUTH,
PARKING DOWNTOWN, TAKING THE VERY PRECIOUS PARKING SPACE OFF THE STREETS, PARK ALL AT A, DON'T HAVE TO PAY THE METER, THEY CAN BE THERE 8, 10, 12, 16 HOURS, THROWING THEIR NOSE UP AT US A.
WE DON'T GET THE REVENUE.
WE LOSE OUT ON MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR, NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT, AN THAT'S THE CIRCLING OF THE BLOCK, THAT'S WHAT CAUSES PEOPLE -- BECAUSE WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE TAKING UP A SPACE AND THE METER IS NOT TURNING OVER BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE PLACARD -- AND, AGAIN, THIS IS NOT FOR FOLKS THAT ARE LEGIT, IT'S JUST FOR PEOPLE LOOKING FOR A DOWNTOWN PARKING SPOT THAT DON'T WANT TO PAY THE GARAGE FEES.
MY CONCERN IS THAT WILL PLAY OUT INOUT IN THE NAIFNLTD PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO BE NICKEL AND DIMED.
[b]MY HOUSE ALONE, THAT WOULD BE $375, FIVE CARS, THAT'S HOW MY PROGRAM RUNS.[/b]
ONE'S GOING THIS WAY, THAT WAY, SCHOOL, AFTER SCHOOL, HOCKEY, SOCCER, IT'S A DISASTER.
TRY TO KEEP UP PACE WITH MY HOUSE, GOOD LUCK TO YOU.
THAT ALONE IS JUST GOING TO CAUSE PEOPLE TO SAY, I'M NOT DOING THAT, AND THEY WILL GO TO THE DOCTOR, GET THE NOTE, AND THEN ALL OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS WILL HAVE HANDICAPPED PARKING PLACES ALL OVER THEM.
THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AND THE FACTS OF WHAT POTENTIALLY COULD HAPPEN.
COUNCILLOR EDWARDS I THINK SUGGESTED IT BEST ABOUT TALKING ABOUT A WIDER SPECTRUM.
M.B.T.A. NEEDS A SEAT AT THE TABLE.
IT'S 2019.
WE TONIGHT NEED A BUS STOP ON EVERY SINGLE STREET CORNER AND THEY DON'T NEED TO BE A FOOTBALL FIELD IN LENGTH.
WE COULD TALK ABOUT BUMPOUTS, EVERY THIRD STREET, THAT WILL FREE UP HUNDREDS OF PARKING SPACES IN EVERY SINGLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO INSTEAD OF GETTING IN A BIG FIGHT OVER PARKING SPACES, LET'S BRING THE M.B.T.A. IN.
COUNCILLOR EDWARDS REFERENCED ANGLED PARKING.
MAYBE IT'S A NEIGHBORHOOD BY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSESSMENT.
MAYBE WE BRING THE DISTRICT COUNSELORS IN WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS AND FIGURE OUT WHAT BEST PARKING PLAN WORKS FOR THAT RESPECTIVE COMMUNITY.
AND I'M HAPPY TO TELL ABOUT ASSISTANCE BECAUSE WE HAVE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH NOT ONLY IN MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD BUT DEALING WITH ACROSS THE CITY FOR YEARS.
THE T CANNOT BE LEFT OUT AND ALSO THE PARTNERSHIPS WHERE WE HAVE IN BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL, THEY ALLOW RESIDENTS TO PARK THERE.
LOOKING AT OUR OWN ASSETS, OUR MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS AND ALLOW FOR PARKING OVERNIGHT, OR REACH OUT TO BUSINESSES AROUND PARTNERSHIPS WHO HAVE BIG PARKING LOTS WHO ALLOW FOR OVERNIGHT PARK.
MUNICIPAL LOTS ALLOW FOR OVERNIGHT PARK, MAYBE GARAGES.
THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT CREATIVE SOLUTIONS WE COULD DO TO ALLEVIATE THE PARKING CRUNCH, AND I THINK THAT WOULD SERVE A HUGE PURPOSE AS OPPOSED TO FEEING AND FINING PEOPLE INTO SUBMISSION.
PEOPLE ARGUE THEIR EXCISE AT THAT, INSURANCE PAYS FOR IT.
IF THERE'S AN ACCIDENT ON THE EXPRESSWAY, WE GET THE CREDIT FOR IT.
TRY AND GET YOUR INSURANCE.
IT'S EVERYTHING.
NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE THE CONVERSATION BUT I DO NOT THINK THE ANSWER IS AND MY HESITATION
IS ALL IT WILL EXACERBATE THE HANDICAPPED FRAUD PARKING IN THE CITY THAT NOBODY IS DOING ANYTHING ABOUT AND COSTS US MILLIONS EVERY YEAR.
THANK YOU, MADAM PRESIDENT.
______________________________
Again, you're a victim of the
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:19pm
Again, you're a victim of the 25% of Bostonians who vote.
Technically
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:50pm
He's a victim of all Bostonians (as he doesn't live in Boston.)
Any actual stats on this?
By fungwah
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:44am
Is placard abuse rampant? Has anyone done any actual study on this? Are there even enough handicapped-specific spots for this to be responsible for parking issues? I'd love to see some actual numbers, seems like a lot of anecdotes going around but I'm not seeing anything anywhere to indicate that this is actually a major issue vs just being a convenient scapegoat. I'd love to see that info if it exists and anyone has it!
It isn't about HP spots.
By Pete Nice
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:50am
It is about meters and vehicles with placards parking at those meters and not paying for them and staying at the space from 5am to 3pm. I'm not sure it is rampant but go to construction sites downtown and you will see a lot of out of state vehicles there from 5am to about 2 or 3pm.
Depends on the neighborhood but "free" is a good price...
By b from Ros
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:15pm
When all it takes is a placard to get unlimited parking for less than the metered rates, it starts to get a wee bit rampant...
Here is the best I can do with google maps might be surface artery road in Chinatown. This specific strip is all metered with 3/4 of the cars having placards.
(I suck at linking, sorry)
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3514505,-71.0591874,3a,15y,4.83h,85.91t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soosusrf6P1bEjUbcd-RcdQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
I walk this path often and see a *majority* of cars with placards every time.
Due to the overwhelming benefit of "free parking", in areas where (and when) parking is "scarce and useful", I would expect some significant chuck of metered parking to be affected.
Again, anecdotal
By fungwah
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:31pm
I'm sure some people use it and abuse it, but shouldn't the Councilor's first move be to get BTD to do a study on, say, the percentage of spaces that are actually occupied by cars with handicapped placards, and for how long? Let's show that it's actually a significant percentage of spaces that are being used here before we propose legislation that affects it.
That wouldn't be a bad idea
By Ari O
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:31pm
While many (likely most) people with HP placards genuinely need them, there is certainly abuse of the system, and there are likely certain parts of the city which see this most acutely. For instance, an upthread poster posted this location in Chinatown where most of the cars have HP placards. Given that the main criteria is the inability to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, and most of these spaces are significantly further away than that, there is likely some abuse going on here. There's been some research and it certainly seems like this is something that does happen, and when it does, it both deprives the City of revenue and, if using an HP space, deprives the actual mobility-impaired community of the ability to access services they need (the legislature passed a law last year with stiffer regulations, but it needs to be enforced: you can report a scofflaw here).
And #FiveCarFlaherty has a point: it does seem to be especially abused by construction workers, as WBZ found last year (and he's been talking about this for a while). A personal anecdote: I used to work in Kendall Square, where there is a single HP spot in front of the post office, probably to allow people with mobility needs to get in and out of the post office (or other nearby businesses). Yet it was almost always filled with the same car all day long. We once saw the driver of the car get out and walk down the stairs in to the T. A transit rider trying to save on parking? Nope, a T employee who found a convenient place to park. Now it's possible that said employee had a mobility-impairment, but then again, most jobs on the Red Line probably involve a significant amount of walking or time on your feet.
Now, what could FiveCar do about it? It seems like some communities in the Commonwealth do a good job of enforcing these regulations. So perhaps he could use his position as a city councilor to start working with parking enforcement to enforce the rules, rather than complaining that they don't get enforced. I bet that if a few $500 fines and 30-day license suspensions are handed down, word will spread real quick that it's not worth trying to scam the system any longer.
Thank you
By cybah
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:27pm
WBZ has been reporting about this for years.
Wanna see abuse.. Dalton Street in the BackBay. All across from the Pru.
Car after car filled with Placards. Either the Pru has alot of handicapped people working nearby and they all park on Dalton.. or there's fraud.
This isn't anecdotal evidence.. many many news outlets have done stories about this over the years. Its a real problem.
Exactly
By Ari O
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:35pm
As edited above, FiveCar could use his voice on the City Council to get this enforced.
It is really quite shameful that people are willing to take advantage of it. You don't want to be like the Seinfeld characters, do you?
"but cars, but parking"
By cybah
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:46pm
"but cars, but parking" is why
Ari, you and I both know (and many uhubbers also) people get crazy with their cars and parking in this city. Not surprising people will break the law and risk embarrassment for parking..
Then again we're also a city who does space savers in the winter for parking.....
Car Culture: Making Assholes Out of Everyone
It can be argued
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 3:22pm
That Councilor Flaherty is using is voice on the City Council to spotlight this issue. I mean, why are we talking about it here?
Is this meant to be Swiftian satire?
By fungwah
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 6:28pm
If so, that's great and I may consider voting for him for such a clever way of getting these topics out there.
But barring evidence of that, I have to assume that this is just an out-of-touch dope trying to find a way to distract from the fact that he doesn't want to have to pay to park his five cars.
re: Again, anecdotal
By Refugee
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 7:24pm
And your non-anecdotal evidence for maintaining the status quo is....?
Call it a version of Chesterton's Fence
By fungwah
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 8:58am
Before you talk about changing the current laws to solve a problem, you should probably show some kind of actual evidence that there's actually a problem to begin with.
Yes, abuse is rampant
By threedecker
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 5:18pm
The state changed the laws in 2017 as a result of a 2014 study. Fines were dramatically increased. For example:
"Obstruction of the placard number or expiration date, including the failure to display the placard in a way that makes the placard number or expiration date readily visible through the windshield or the failure to follow instructions printed on the placard, shall be punished by a fine of $50."
How many placards do you see that are reversed? (A lot) How many have tickets on the windshield? (none)
BTD does not enforce state laws. They only ticket City of Boston rules and regulations such as blocking an intersection, resident only violations, and of course street cleaning day. BPD has better things to do than walk around checking placard expiration dates.
Solution: City council needs to revisit their rules and regulations to follow the state model and allow BTD to violate offenders. Flaherty is simply grandstanding.
Councilor Flaherty should remember It's an election year...
By ConcernedCitizen
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:56am
... and the Register of Deeds position is already filled by another former Boston political hack.
He does remember it's an election year
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:52pm
And he knows who votes, and who votes for him. In short, he's not losing votes through this proposal, or in opposing the geometric resident parking sticker fee proposal.
Well maybe one
By Gary C
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:11pm
He certainly won't get my vote.
Answer me this
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:05pm
On January 1, 2019, were you planning on voting for him?
Those pesky disabled people!
By Lecil
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:00pm
Demanding bus stop close to each other! And handicap placards! They should be like other decent city folk and just buy five cars they expect to park for free on the street!
He is really tone deaf
By Kaz
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:33pm
"I want to park my five cars on the street for free in my neighborhood where there are no meters so we have to remove some bus stops to make it easier to do that, but handicapped people use a system that is too easy to abuse so they have to start paying for parking if they use a meter in all those places that aren't in my neighborhood where I park for free...with my five cars."
I mean, fuck, guy...listen to yourself sometime.
youtube captions
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:06pm
Kudos to YouTube for providing great machine transcription of the hearing.
Open the video on Youtube.com and click the three dots and click 'open transcript' and you can read and search the whole transcript.
Boston City Council Public Meeting Wednesday 8 May 2019
By theszak
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:01pm
Boston City Council Public Meeting Wednesday 8 May 2019 https://www.youtube.com/user/BostonCityCouncil/videos
Note the Stenographic technology/software in front of the Dais. Withheld from hard of hearing folks, withheld from all folks the Stenographic Record Document is more complete than Minutes, more accurate than erroneous video captions. Better, more up to date technology/software can improve civic engagement at City Council !
I must say, I also agree with
By cden4
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 12:44pm
I must say, I also agree with #FiveCarFlaherty. There is a problem with fraudulent HP placards in Boston, and that placard holders should not be able to park for free at meters. If we want to allow them to go beyond the signed time limit, I think that's probably fair, but parking for free, definitely not.
Something Missing
By Unc Ommon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:17pm
Ummm....Maybe I'm not familiar with the way your brave new world works,but,in most places,wouldn't a better solution be to create more parking?
I mean there is really a need for such a thing as an automobile,considering than most folks are not capable of riding bicycles(age,infirmity,more than carryon baggage)
After all this is the 21st century in Boston and not 20th century Peking.
Please,do not say that the answer lies in building transit oriented housing,as government transit is not nearly as cheap,safe,clean or convenient.
OK
By lbb
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 9:09am
What do you plan to bulldoze to provide this "more parking"? Public Garden? Stores on Newbury Street? Your house?
It's always been my impression
By Will LaTulippe
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:28pm
That a person with a disability does not wish to be treated differently.
Make 'em pay for their parking.
There are two different
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:37pm
There are two different issues.
If people are using placards that they don't qualify for, taking away some of the privileges of all placard users is not the right solution.
A separate issue is whether free and time-unlimited parking at meters still makes sense. Other states don't have this rule. On the other hand, most other states don't have major portions of cities where all street parking is either resident-only (where residents can't even park for an hour or two) or two-hour meters.
If a construction worker needs to arrive at 5 am with tools and park all day, there should be a legal way of doing it. All-day street parking shouldn't be allowed downtown, where there's great transit access, plenty of garages, and huge demand for parking. But in the outer neighborhoods, it would make a lot of sense to provide for some parking longer than 2 hours. This could take the form of all-day meters.
Park and shuttle
By anon
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 1:11pm
In order to get construction permits, the company should have to submit a parking plan that involves off-site shuttles.
Yes, all parking should be
By anon
Fri, 05/10/2019 - 5:13pm
Yes, all parking should be replaced by a shuttle to off-site parking. Then when the off-site area itself gets too crowded, run a shuttle to the shuttle.
Or we could just allow parking where there's enough supply.
Why Does a HC placard = free parking anyway?
By section77
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 2:25pm
I mean, it sounds like a nice thing for us to do for the HC, but its hardly written in stone. Since anyone with a color copier can get their own it seems this is the only way to combat that. Not that its the fault of actual HC people, but again there's no solid reason why it should be free in the first place.
Everyone at once now: HOW DARE YOU!
Income
By lbb
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 9:10am
The sorts of disability that qualify one for one of these permits tend to strongly correlate with a reduced ability to earn a living, one would think.
Seriously?
By Section77
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 5:22pm
While that may be true for construction work it does not follow that HC people can’t make a living. Also, your reply to my comment isn’t related to anything I said. Is this some passive aggressive time wasting bs?
Seriously yourself
By lbb
Fri, 05/10/2019 - 10:33am
Despite the ADA, there are a lot of impediments to people with disabilities just getting a job, including those that aren't hard manual labor. My workplace is not accessible; neither are many in Boston. What's a person with a disability supposed to do?
I see, in your attempt to defend them you claim they are useless
By section77
Fri, 05/10/2019 - 11:34am
Really not the route I would have taken. Mr. Nice above has perfectly fine reasoning which refutes my post: If you are mobility impaired its tough to get back to feed the meter, (because you have mobility issues). I bow to that reasoning. Your claim that they shouldn't have to pay because "everyone knows if you're HC you can't be a valued member of society and earn a living" does not. They ADA does exist, your claim that HC can't get into any buildings to work seems like grasping at straws. Let's agree to disagree, shall we?
The disabled: "They're qualified and they're able"
By O-FISH-L
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 3:16pm
I agree with Will that the disabled shouldn't be treated differently at meters. It's patronizing. The 1970's era PSA campaign seeking equality for the handicapped was based on the motto, "the disabled: they're qualified and they're able." That means they are able to pay for a metered space.
Once again, where is any discussion by Flaherty or others for a BPD Traffic Squad? We see the reflexive crosswalk enforcement for a few days after each pedestrian fatal but no separate squad that focuses 24/7 only on traffic enforcement, including handicap parking fraud and the hefty fines that come with the newest law. The neighborhood BPD patrol car is too busy shagging 911 calls and the State Police are running one trooper on the desk and as few as two on the road per barracks. Crash victims with no injury are told to "swap papers" because the MSP is too busy to respond, never mind investigating HP placard fraud. The Inspector General reported rampant fraud in 2016, time for less talk and more action.
Sssswing anna miss!
By lbb
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 9:16am
The goal of that campaign was to try to get employers to hire the "handicapped" as you call them. It had some limited success, and the ADA did rather more, but for the most part, mobility impairment severely limits one's ability to earn a living.
Imagine that you use a wheelchair and you get a job in Central Square. Many buildings in the Boston area aren't accessible; if you want to change that, you need to bring a lawsuit. You, the person in the chair who's just trying to live your life, have to become a litigant. But let's assume you got lucky and your workplace is accessible, and the elevator doesn't break down more than once or twice a week. You're set! But you still need to get to your job, which means the MBTA, which means the Red Line, which means Central Square Station, where...the elevator has been out of service and is scheduled to remain so for months to come.
That is one example of many. The Boston area is a hellscape for mobility impaired people.
Wouldn’t it just be easier
By Anony
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 3:13pm
To give anyone with five cars or more, free parking for life?
Some perspective
By Joe Wheelie
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 3:54pm
I'm a handicapped person who has a placard and does not drive. I take the T as much as possible from home to work. My wife won't use the placard if I am not in the car with her to park (not even if I was meeting her for a ride home if she is parked) because she feels it is dishonest.
Now some of the dummies in this thread said 'well that is why there are handicapped spaces near the doors' - have you ever been in Boston on a weekend? How about Thursday night? You think that out of all the people driving in to Newbury st, only 4 people going to the back bay are handicapped? Or do you mean that disabled people shouldn't go to Newbury street if they can't afford parking? What a jackass.
Different states have different laws - you can get a special NYC placard that even allows you to park in tow zones, as opposed to MA which is just any public space (eg not private garage or privately owned place) for free. Do I think there is abuse? I do. However, maybe the city could require construction permits paid for by the company that have nothing to do with handicap spaces to crack down on this?
A few years in a row, either channel 7 or channel 5 followed cops up to the Pheasant Lane or Burlington mall and the cops wrote out like 5,000$ worth of tickets for people improperly using a handicap placard - one guy forced a lady to call her disabled husband to ask if he was in the mall and he was all "...No...No I'm at home..."
This goes back to people taking advantage of a benefit and then others being shortsighted and wanted to take away the benefit.
Also, for those who don't know, it isn't just filling out a form - you need proof, not just a doctor's note. My mom is 80, has bath arthritis and had hip replacement and her doctor wouldn't complete the paperwork unless she started using a cane / degraded. The doctor signs forms and can be fined for fraud. NYC is very strict - you need it from your PCP and your specialist and you have to have to re-approved periodically.
Hey, why don't we cut food stamps too if someone can work at McDonalds! Hey, GE and Shell make a ton of money, why do they pay little to no taxes?
Trust me kids, if I am rolling into town to use my handicap placard, I'm spending more on the economy than 5$ in parking charges - what is your sorry townie ass doing to give back to the city? Citation for public urination after a Sox game?
Awwww
By Will LaTulippe
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 5:48am
You almost had a point. My "sorry townie ass?" I don't go to your suburb and act like a jerk and trash the locals. Maybe show some respect for Bostonians.
So you can afford the $5
By anon
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 2:59pm
So you can afford the $5 parking meter fee.
You haven't explained why a placard should allow free, untimed parking at meters. Most other states don't allow it.
I believe the original reason was that parking meters were not reachable by someone in a wheelchair. That's a reasonable problem to solve, especially when replacing traditional meters with multi-space machines.
Just to clarify
By spin_o_rama
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 5:04pm
You're on board with charging upwards of what, $100 for the privilege of regular parking permits right? $10/hour for metered parking?
Also have you ensured that all those multi-space machines are easily accesible to all that would have handicap placards? What are we doing to ensure that snow removal happens at each and every one?
Once again, pricing this or adding additional hurdles to handicap placards because we don't want to enforce abuse through law enforcement is going to impact and hurt people with legitimate mobility issues.
Yes, those prices would be
By anon
Fri, 05/10/2019 - 5:10pm
Yes, those prices would be fine with me, where demand warrants.
It's easy to design a parking meter or vending machine that's accessible to people in wheelchairs. In fact, more than half of states require payment at meters if you have a handicapped permit, and nobody's challenged this under the ADA.
And I didn't say payment should be required because of abuse of permits. As long as permits provide any benefit at all, there will be the temptation for abuse, and abuse should be prevented by enforcement.
I was questioning whether there's actually a need for free, untimed parking at all meters with a handicapped permit.
So his solution is that
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 7:20pm
So his solution is that instead of charging everyone, we should only charge a small subset of people??
Make more parking or stop construction
By anon
Wed, 05/08/2019 - 11:51pm
The artificial parking shortage by the EPA and the city has only increased traffic with Uber and Lyft replacing people who just drive and park, not circle the streets.
Those construction workers who often suffer injuries do get placards. If you want their abuses to end, stop new construction!
Huge fines for doctors who
By Amy Hunt
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 7:04am
Huge fines for doctors who provide letters for placards when they shouldn’t. Many awesome docs, some my friends, but never forget this is the demo that’s primarily responsible for the opioid crisis with their unnecessary, irresponsible prescriptions. Laws and regs have been primarily directed at them.
Second: an intern, for god’s sake, could run through death certificates and placard owners and instigate repossession. Not hard.
Also: placards have photos of the user on them and also have covers issued so no one can see. Get rid of covers. If it’s old Aunt Sally, the burly construction guy may be less inclined to try. I get the privacy thing. I have a placard, use a wheelchair, my privacy cover ripped, and I really don’t care.
Modern solutions available
By KellyJMF
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 12:49pm
Have the placard have a barcode or RFID chip. BTD could read it and get all the identifying info without need to display any private information to the public
Declare open season for spot
By anon
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 4:06pm
Declare open season for spot saving throughout the city and let God sort it out.
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