Free LA Parking Starts Today!

Thanks for announcing it, I had no idea. Is there a website where I can find out more? Do we need some kind of stickers for our cars?

 

Here's the text of the press release (since it's a pdf):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2004

MAYOR HAHN, COUNCILMEMBER GARCETTI CHEER PASSAGE OF HYBRID PARKING PROGRAM

Los Angeles – Mayor Jim Hahn and City Councilmember Eric Garcetti today welcomed the Los Angeles City Council’s passage of a program to allow gas electric hybrid cars to park at parking meters for free. The program goes into effect October 1, 2004.

“Now people have another good reason to drive hybrid vehicles, in addition to helping the environment,†said Mayor Hahn. “Every bit of environmentally-conscious behavior makes a difference, and driving a hybrid car now saves spare change at the meter as well as dollars in your gas tank. We all have better things to do with our spare change than feed a parking meter, and we all benefit from having cleaner air to breathe.â€

“By letting clean motorists keep their pocket change, we can make real change in our air quality,†said Councilmember Eric Garcetti. “As the air pollution capital of the United States, we can't shy away from fighting the battle on many fronts.â€

The City of Los Angeles already provides free parking at city meters for electric and natural gas cars and trucks designated as “Clean Air Vehicles†by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Mayor Hahn, recognizing the success of this program and wanting to continue to promote clean air, developed a plan to extend this initiative to owners of hybrid vehicles. Councilmember Garcetti introduced the motion in the City Council last July to direct LADOT to begin implementation of the program.

The City Council voted unanimously today to pass the program. Initially, hybrid owners will not need to do anything different to take advantage of the policy. Parking enforcement officers will be trained to recognize hybrid vehicles and will simply not cite owners of such vehicles for not
paying at parking meters. However, vehicle owners will still be required to comply with posted time limits. In addition, if the State of California and DMV decide to include hybrids as “Clean Air Vehicles,†then hybrid owners would need to receive a sticker from the DMV to qualify for free parking, just as electric and natural gas vehicle owners currently do.

Hybrids, which use a combination of gasoline and electric power, provide increased fuel economy on a miles-per-gallon basis and, subsequently, reduce air pollution. California has twice as many hybrids as any other state. Over 4,700 hybrid vehicles were registered in Los Angeles in 2003, more than any other city.

The City of Los Angeles is currently converting its fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles and also maintains a small fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The free hybrid parking pilot program will last for six months. At the end of that period, LADOT will analyze the program and make a determination of whether or not to continue the program.

 

If only Culver City and Santa Monica would follow suit, those are two other cities where I have parking issues.

What is the status of the hybrid in car pool lane law? I heard it was passed, but haven't seen official confirmation.

 

It was passed (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/23/hybrids.carpool.ap/) but needs approval from the Fed's to go into effect Jan 1, 2005.

Peter+

 

I've used my free parking privileges twice this week - and didn't get a ticket! I'm so pleased.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mwilliams\";p=\"45072)</div>

Do you know whether the City Department of Transportation enforcement people passed by?

I have parked at expired meters several times in the past week without getting ticketed; however, I don't know whether to attribute the lack of tickets to knowledgeable enforcement personnel or to lack of parking meters patrols.

 

Parking Enforcement is almost always lurking around those areas - in fact, I've gotten a few tickets in the past in just these areas (because I forgot to feed the meter). One location was at the end of Washington by the beach, the other was around the Court House in Van Nuys.

I really think it was the Prius charm.