Alternate side parking

Alternate side parking is a traffic law that dictates on which side of a street cars can be parallel parked on a given day. The law is intended to ensure the most efficient flow of traffic, as well as allowing street sweepers and snowplows to reach the curb without parked cars impeding their progress. Some proponents also regard the law, which can be quite inconvenient for drivers, as a way to encourage the use of public transportation. [cite web|title=Parking|author=Gail Robinson|publisher=Gotham Gazette|url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20050411/200/1376|accessdate=October 16|accessyear=2006]

In many towns and cities, alternate side parking is reserved for certain times of year. [cite web|title=Parking|publisher=Madison Wisconsin "Isthmus"|url=http://www.thedailypage.com/mad-tools/directory/?category=16&subcategory=149|accessdate=October 16|accessyear=2006] [cite web|title=Community Connection Alternate-Side Parking|author=Frank Pomeroy |url=http://www.winona.edu/Parking/2738.htm|accessdate=October 16|accessyear=2006] In other places, such as New York City, it is a year-round rule suspended only for holidays and certain events. [cite web|title=Alternate Side Parking Regulations Suspension Calendar|author=New York City Department of Transportation|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/scrintro.html|accessdate=October 16|accessyear=2006] Signs are posted with the scheduled street sweeping times, and motorists must make sure their vehicles are on the correct side of the street or risk being ticketed or towed. The law can be confusing to visitors, who often choose to park in high-priced parking garages or use valet parking rather than risking fines. Even for locals, parking tickets are common; working late or oversleeping may cause a car to be left for too long on the wrong side of the street. Avoiding a ticket can consume a great deal of time, as drivers must search for other available spaces or sit double parked until the designated time, regardless of when street sweepers actually pass. [cite web|title=The Zen of Alternate-Side Parking|author=David Wallis|url=http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4176|accessdate=October 16|accessyear=2006]

In Sweden, alternate side parking ("datumparkering") is applied in zones covering an entire city, with signs indicating this at the city perimeter. Inside such date zones ("datumzon"), parking is prohibited on the morning of odd dates on the side of the street where houses have odd numbers. The drivers must think of what date it is the next morning if they leave the car in the evening. Inspired by Stockholm, more and more Swedish cities are abandoning such confusing zones and instead provide permanent parking on one or both sides of the street, with the exception for one day per week during December through May, when snowplowing and sweeping of sand can be required. The day when parking is prohibited is posted on a sign for each street.

In Denmark ("datoparkering"), the rules are exactly the opposite of those in Sweden, with parking prohibited on the morning of odd dates on the side of the street where houses have "even" numbers.

Example

On a street running East to West, cars must be moved from the South side of the street for a few hours a day every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday they must be moved from the North side. On Sunday and certain holidays, they can be left where they are. The specific times will vary from street to street. The days on which the rules are suspended may also vary from city to city and even from neighborhood to neighborhood.

In popular culture

*In the "Seinfeld" episode "The Alternate Side," George Costanza gets a job moving cars from one side of the street to the other.
*The novel "Tepper Isn't Going Out" is based on the quest for parking in New York City. [cite book|title=Tepper Isn't Going Out|author=Calvin Trillin|publisher=Random House|year=2003|id=ISBN 0-375-75851-8]

References