It’s the dreaded moment most people in South Florida have experienced - you get to your car after a great day of shopping or a night out with friends to find a parking ticket on your windshield.
"It just sucks,” said driver Lisa Poulcen.
Poulcen received three tickets in Fort Lauderdale during the past month.
"They’re quick," said Poulcen. "It gets pricey."
This interactive map shows the top six places drivers are more likely to receive a ticket. The NBC 6 Investigators analyzed two years (2014 and 2015) of parking tickets data for three of South Florida’s largest cities – Fort Lauderdale, City of Miami and Miami Beach – and ranked the data. Click the arrow on the right to read about each parking area in our rankings. -By Mc Nelly Torres
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Local
Parking Enforcement Officer Luquette Thames patrols the streets of Miami watching vehicles and drivers. She issues dozens of tickets every day.
“I’m a nice person but people think that we’re mean but it’s just a mean job,” Thames said about her job.
The NBC 6 Investigators analyzed two years (2014 and 2015) of parking ticket data for three of South Florida’s largest cities – Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Miami Beach– and ranked the data to find the top six places drivers are more likely to receive a ticket.
The analysis found most zones or areas where South Floridians are more likely to receive a parking ticket are concentrated in Miami Beach.
“I absolutely hate it, at one point I just thought I should get rid of my car,” said Lenzey Stidham, who lives near Lincoln Road.
Stidham has received more than 25 parking tickets in just the past year.
“It’s cheaper to get a parking ticket, you just have to pay it in time,” said Stidham.
Top 6 areas for parking tickets:
1. Miami Beach: Collins Avenue between 4 and 15th Streets, $4,646,686 collected
2. Miami Beach: Ocean Drive and 15th, $4,467,416 collected
3. Miami Beach: Washington between 4th and Lincoln, $3,084,376 collected
4. Fort Lauderdale: SW 2nd/Himmarshee Street, $3,073,044 collected
5. Miami: Midtown, $3,017,224 collected
6. Miami Beach: Lincoln Road Area, $2,937,316 collected
When asked about whether the areas on the top six list are due to having more violators or more parking zone officers, Officer Thames responded “It’s more violators, there is one officer on every route.”
All of the spots on the top six list have a high volume of traffic and parking meters. Parking enforcement officials said they have to be aggressive to keep traffic moving.
In Miami Beach, a city spokesperson said much of the traffic congestion is due to visitors trying to park on the street as opposed to parking garages.
“We’ve found that 30 percent of our traffic congestion is based on people looking for parking on the street, save time and save more on a parking ticket by going to one of our garages,” said Nanette Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Miami Beach.
Ticket prices range from $18 to $32 and the price keep rising if a driver doesn’t pay it within the allotted deadline.
