The End of 25-Cent Parking in LA

— Photo by TJ Sullivan —

The City of Los Angeles is in the process of making you pay more at the curb.

And, in case you haven't noticed, you're already paying more at The Los Angeles Public Library.

The old fee structure that allowed visitors to the central library downtown to pay a mere $6.50 for three hours of parking during library use has been increased to a charge of $9. The maximum rate is still $36.50 a day, which adds up quite quickly after the third hour so don't dawdle in the stacks.

As for those meters, the city plans to reset those that charge 25-cents-an-hour to return no more than 15 minutes per quarter. The most expensive city meters will top out at $4 per hour.

Of course, this does not affect non-city meters. You could pay more or less in other municipalities such as West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, or Santa Monica.

Earlier this month, I noticed that the city meters outside my Westside post office ceased to provide an hour for 50 cents, so it seems some have already gone through the change. Makes me wonder how many people will end up paying a parking ticket in the next few weeks for failing to look at the minutes provided per quarter.

Some of the new meters are supposed take credit cards, though I haven't seen any of those yet.

Perhaps the bigger issue for curb-side parkers will be the end of free-after-6 p.m. parking. Come 2009, LA parking meters won't go dark until 8 p.m., at least. Some meters will go later, so check those signs.

Remember the lesson of the 9-minute meter.

— TJ Sullivan in LA