Where Seattle drivers get the most parking tickets
Sep 28, 2015, 1:42 PM | Updated: 1:49 pm
(File photo)
(File photo)
How much is $47 really worth to you?
What if it came with a $4 online convenience fee? And then the time it takes to pay it again, and again … and again?
That’s the cost of the common Seattle parking ticket — $47; add $4 for “convenience” if you pay it online.
That doesn’t include other violations such as parking in an electric car charging station — $124 — or illegally parking in a handicap spot — $250. Parking in restricted Husky Stadium spots will run drivers $53. Parking a “junk” car on a Seattle street will cost $250.
Not to mention, if a driver does pay to park on a Seattle street but does not properly display the receipt, it will cost $29.
There are five leading areas in Seattle where drivers are getting the most parking tickets, and the bulk of them are on Capitol Hill, reports.
After digging into the data, FYI Guy Gene Balk found that drivers parked in five areas received the most parking tickets:
• 1500 block of 10th Avenue (Capitol Hill) with 5,984 tickets
• 1500 block of 11th Avenue (Capitol Hill) with 5,503 tickets
• 1600 block of Broadway (Capitol Hill) with 2,091 tickets
• 4500 block of University Way (University District) with 3,650 tickets
• 4500 block of Bagley Avenue North (Wallingford) with 2,537 tickets
The numbers reflect a time period between January 2014 to July 2015. Balk notes that most of the tickets written on Capitol Hill and in the University District have been for expired parking times. In Wallingford, however, tickets are mostly for violating the residential parking limits, which prohibits parking on residential streets between 5 p.m. and midnight, unless zone specific permit is displayed.
The tickets during that 19-month period made Seattle $33 million in fees. Balk crunched a few more numbers and found that the city’s 103 parking-enforcement officers each took in $325,000 on the job. They each get paid $61,089 annually; $6,292,167 collectively.
Contributing to that hefty sum are a few repeat violators, including two commercial vehicles with 390 and 238 tickets each. A Silver Jeep stood out in the data, Balk notes, which received most of its tickets — 152 — in Belltown.
