Los Angeles Parking

Los Angeles Parking Guide

About Los Angeles Los Angeles (often known by its initials L.A.,) is the most populous city in U.S. state of California and is a leading world center of business, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, international trade, entertainment, culture, and education. It is ranked as third richest, fifth most powerful and influential city in the whole world.

Often called as the "Creative Capital of the World", Los Angeles is home to Hollywood, globally recognized as the epicenter of the motion picture industry. Nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a leading world center of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, and education.

Generally, the city is divided into the following areas: Downtown Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and Northeast Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, the Harbor Area, Greater Hollywood, Wilshire, the Westside, and the San Fernando and Crescenta Valleys. Los Angeles has plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of only 35 days with measurable precipitation annually. The Los Angeles area is also subject to phenomena typical of a microclimate, causing extreme variations in temperature in close physical proximity to each other.

Parking in LA The City controls almost 49,000 parking spaces as well as spaces along the 7,200 miles of road in the City. The Department of Transportation (LADOT) operates 118 public parking lots and garages; manages on-street parking through meters, color curbs, and various parking permits. LADOT also enforces parking regulations through the Parking Enforcement Division.

The Department of Transportation also offers parking services to those with specialized permits. The Department makes provisions for residents who live in preferential parking districts and those who require overnight parking passes.

Metered Parking The metered parking system includes the following technologies:

• Park & Pay Stations: For groups of multiple parking spaces
• Card & Coin Meters: Single-space parking meters
• ExpressPark: A demand-based parking management project

Park & Pay Stations The Park & Pay Stations are easy to use: Just enter the space number found next to your parking space, insert your payment, and go on your way without having to return a ticket to your vehicle. Pay stations accept coins, credit and debit cards and even cell phone payments using mPark.

Card & Coin Meters Card & Coin Meters accept coins like traditional parking meters, but, similar to Park & Pay stations, they also accept credit and debit card payments. The new meters' LCD screens make it easier to understand parking restrictions, having been programmed to show not only the parking rate, time limit and operational hours but also draw attention to impending street cleaning or tow-away/no-stopping periods.

ExpressPark Combining demand-based pricing principles and technology, the City's parking meter-related program, the ExpressPark Intelligent Parking Management Project, begun in Downtown Los Angeles in Summer 2011.

The rates in the project area will be determined in real-time by the number of vehicles parked there, the time of day and drivers' length of stay. The project is expected to enable drivers to easily find parking Downtown by allowing some parking spaces to remain vacant. Since drivers can head directly to their parking destination, less time and fuel will be wasted in prolonged searches for parking, curbing air pollution and congestion.

LADOT traffic officers issue citations to vehicles that are in violation of the restrictions. A citation is a deterrent to motorists who might otherwise ignore parking regulations. Traffic officers issue 3.2 million citations annually.

Once parking citations are issued, the Parking Violations Bureau handles collection management. Motorists can pay tickets online through the Parking Violations Bureau.

Parking in Garages/lots There are approx 116 public, off-street parking facilities throughout the City. Almost 27 percent of the LADOT's lots are free-of-charge, 52 percent are metered and 21 percent are operated under various contracts.

Visit BestParking.com for all appropriate off street parking options to reserve a parking space. Compare the rates on an interactive map for the most economical and suitable option. Best Parking helps you choose the best suitable parking facility for off street parking via an interactive map.