3 ms·

For the city of Los Angeles, I would love an API that takes a street address and an array of options and returns the street parking restrictions that apply. Th

by byoung2 15y ago

For the city of Los Angeles, I would love an API that takes a street address and an array of options and returns the street parking restrictions that apply. There are lots of places with confusing signage (e.g. http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/images/joeyredmond/typicalparkinginlosangeles.jpg http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/images/joeyredmond/typicalpar...), and it would be nice to get a boolean response to the question "Can I park here now?"

jtchang 15y ago
My god I would love that. Can it have a guarantee that you won't get a parking ticket? Just kidding. That said with a tool like that wouldn't the # of parking tickets issue by any city go down and thus they would have an incentive not to allow such a tool to be widely deployed? I swear that parking signs are deliberately put up to confuse people so they can get more revenue!
- byoung2 15y ago
  Well, according to their mission statement, their goal is not to generate revenue, but "to ensure transportation routes in Los Angeles flow safely and are not blocked" (http://ladot.lacity.org/tf_Parking_Enforcement.htm http://ladot.lacity.org/tf_Parking_Enforcement.htm) Of course we know the real reason is $$$. But if we take them at their word, providing access to this data would help them achieve their goal by helping motorists park properly and legally.
soldarnal 15y ago
Agreed; having something like this tied to your GPS would be a great service. It would also be useful to quickly know the time the spot becomes illegal again. I can imagine, too, this would be incredibly useful if self-driving cars ever become a reality (or in helping them become a reality). After one drops you off at the show downtown, it could then check for nearby parking. But maybe this is dreaming too far down the road...
mechazoidal 15y ago
If you could get people to write a bunch of temporal expressions(http://martinfowler.com/eaaDev/timeNarrative.html http://martinfowler.com/eaaDev/timeNarrative.html) for the most standard parking signs, you could then start working something out. Right now you can figure out that sign's schedule with Runt, but it's a bit ugly: https://gist.github.com/1199082 https://gist.github.com/1199082

by byoung2 15y ago

jtchang 15y ago

My god I would love that. Can it have a guarantee that you won't get a parking ticket? Just kidding. That said with a tool like that wouldn't the # of parking tickets issue by any city go down and thus they would have an incentive not to allow such a tool to be widely deployed? I swear that parking signs are deliberately put up to confuse people so they can get more revenue!

byoung2 15y ago
Well, according to their mission statement, their goal is not to generate revenue, but "to ensure transportation routes in Los Angeles flow safely and are not blocked" (http://ladot.lacity.org/tf_Parking_Enforcement.htm http://ladot.lacity.org/tf_Parking_Enforcement.htm) Of course we know the real reason is $$$. But if we take them at their word, providing access to this data would help them achieve their goal by helping motorists park properly and legally.

soldarnal 15y ago

Agreed; having something like this tied to your GPS would be a great service. It would also be useful to quickly know the time the spot becomes illegal again. I can imagine, too, this would be incredibly useful if self-driving cars ever become a reality (or in helping them become a reality). After one drops you off at the show downtown, it could then check for nearby parking. But maybe this is dreaming too far down the road...

mechazoidal 15y ago

If you could get people to write a bunch of temporal expressions(http://martinfowler.com/eaaDev/timeNarrative.html http://martinfowler.com/eaaDev/timeNarrative.html) for the most standard parking signs, you could then start working something out. Right now you can figure out that sign's schedule with Runt, but it's a bit ugly: https://gist.github.com/1199082 https://gist.github.com/1199082