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You’re an Asshole if You Use this Site to Alert the PPA of Parking Violations
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
The PPA just got even more powerful with this site created for people to narc on their own citizens and it’s bullshit. Writes Ariana Perez-Castells at the Inquirer:
Philly Bike Action, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to improving infrastructure for bikers, last month launched Laser Vision, a digital tool that allows users to report parking violations by taking a picture. Laser Vision reads the photo to capture the make and model of the violating vehicle, the location of the offense, and other requested information to complete the PPA form. Users of the platform are able to review information before submitting the report to the PPA.
Laser Vision sends information to PPA, which has been collecting user submissions since May 2024. Laser Vision has been used more than 1,700 times to submit violations, according to the Philly Bike Action data.
Some examples of violations that Laser Vision has collected include vehicles allegedly blocking bike lanes, handicap ramps, or crosswalks.
I understand this app, Laser Vision, was made for good. It was created to protect people riding their bikes when dickheads pull over in the bike lane or are parking on the sidewalk and a handicapped person can’t get by. But we should all be fighting against the PPA, not helping them. Human history has a ton of inventions that were initially made for good, but ended up being used for evil. Gutenberg made the printing press to make information and books more accessible and quicker. That ended up contributing to the Salem Witch Trial hysteria cause some dickhead was able to get their propaganda around the colony faster. Back in my day, I remember social media was intended for us to be able to keep in touch with our friends around the globe and see what Shaq was tweeting about. How’s that one working out? Shaq is is threatening RGIII on a podcast because he saw a clip on social media about him trashing Angel Reese. Talk about a complete 180.
The last organization that needs more power in this city is the PPA. They’re the worst human piles of shit imaginable, and not even because they ticket citizens who were out of their car for two minutes to run into a store. It’s because nobody knows where the money from these violations goes. Well we do – it’s their pockets (allegedly). Part of the money they collect is supposed to go to the schools and road infrastructure. Since they’re not a city entity, but a state agency, they play by their own rules. They’ve had no answer for missing payments to the school district, and when they overpaid them one year they wanted an $11 million refund. Imagine the richest guy in the city stealing the coins out of a bum’s cup on Market Street. That’s what the PPA wanted to do. They’re corrupt as corrupt can get. Don’t start doing their job for them. I would argue the PPA should hire more meter maids with the hundreds of millions of dollars they bank a year to protect the bike lanes and sidewalks, and not rely on a non-profit group to do their bidding, but that’s just me.
Here’s Laser Vision’s process, again via Perez-Castells at the Inky:
PPA gets a couple hundred requests about parking violations each week through its online form, which has been available since last year, according to PPA spokesperson Martin O’Rourke.
The form asks users to identify what kind of issue they are reporting, how frequently it occurs, and attach a picture.
With the addition of Laser Vision, users only need to take a picture of the parking issue, which is processed to extract information and review the details before submitting the violation to the PPA.
That information populates the PPA’s original web form and submits it as a new entry to the parking authority, according to Durbin. In total, the process takes about 30 seconds, they said.
…
Once a violation is received, the PPA can assign it to an enforcement officer, O’Rourke said. PPA notes that reporting a violation “may not result in immediate enforcement action,” but its “enforcement team is committed to investigating recurring parking violations that affect the pedestrian right of way.”
If the vehicle reported via Laser Vision is illegally parked and found by the officer, a citation is issued, said O’Rourke. If the vehicle is not there, that incident is logged as “unfounded.”
The irony that some in the city are making their job easier and they can’t even be counted on to do it. PPA is only efficient when you park for two seconds to go into a store. I hate this site and I’m sure Bike Twitter can’t wait to jump down my throat for being a NIMBY or some bullshit. Don’t care. I’ll be comfortable being on the right side of history. They’ve come up with different revenue streams just in the last year here and here. You want to help out the PPA? Go right ahead. What’s next, Al Qaeda?
P.S. The best thing that can happen with this app is people start submitting PPA’s own vehicles for breaking parking laws since they do that consistently:
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com