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Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

mchap.io

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Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#111

Post by morei »

bpchaps wrote: post #92
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The initial product could be free, and that would still be a decent price for 10 years of any real support.

Yep. Have a look at their hourly rates for systems support [1]. All of the entry level positions are above 80/hr. [1] https://imgur.com/a/ieJj5Po

This is the price that the vendor is charging, NOT what the person is getting paid.

The vendor is covering insurance, holiday/sick leave et al, payroll taxes et al, rent, management, carrying the risk of the work going away, etc etc.

It looks high, but it's not nearly as profitable as it seems for either the vendor or the employee.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#112

Post by ceautery »

btrettel wrote: post #79
jessaustin wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This problem would solve itself if vandalism laws were changed slightly.

On that note, watching videos from the Russian "Stop a Douchebag" movement can be cathartic, though even their mild form of vandalism is illegal. https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/16564/would-stop-a-d...

Man, Russian sidewalks are huge, I sort of understand thinking you could drive on them.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#114

Post by jimmaswell »

thatjsguy wrote: post #110
jimmaswell wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could also signal the area is starved for parking, so the lane should be removed and bicyclists should just ride in the road for those stretches. Small inconvenience to the bicyclists who still get to use the road, big win for the drivers.

Good lord, just park and walk. Or use that bike lane. Cities have an overabundance of expensive parking [1], which does nothing but waste space and act as giant thermal batteries. Everyone loves complaining about traffic, but we don’t seem to have the political will to do something about it (namely: reduce our dependence on cars). Cities should work to reduce their dependence on cars, not increase it at the expense o…

In my area, there are places you have to "park and walk" to and places you can just drive to. Second category are the only ones that get my business.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#115

Post by lostapathy »

bpchaps wrote: post #22
tptacek wrote: post #2

Matt's schtick is automated, large-scale FOIA requesting; he obtains huge collections of data from cities and then tries to do interesting stuff with it. Here, he apparently managed to get all the tickets in Chicago for several years running, and then used that data to fix the parking signs. This, to me, is so neat.

Hey! Thanks for posting this, and the kind words. Interesting note about getting data like this - Illinois FOIA allows a requester to submit a SQL as part of their request.. so long as they know the tables and columns within the database ;)

Do you have any specific information about this or the relevant regulations?

Perhaps we need a meta-site with best practices and how best to attack open records requests in general.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#116

Post by actuallyalys »

forgotmypw wrote: post #42
acct1771 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm kind of on a negative streak these days, so forgive me, reader, but...why in god's green earth aren't these the government's hobbies?!

This one change cost the government 60K. If changes like this are implemented all over the city, how will they pay for the IBM contract?

That's nothing at the scale of Chicago. Their seven-cent tax on plastic bags is expected to bring in $9 million dollars this year (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-chicago-bag-tax-us...).

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#117

Post by jahabrewer »

sirmarksalot wrote: post #67
btrettel wrote: post #13

Would be nice to use the same skills to help reduce cars illegally parked in the bike lane. Identify areas which cyclists commonly complain about that (e.g., to the city) and encourage them to put up better signs?

When people routinely park in bike lanes, the problem is usually cultural, i.e. people know they're not supposed to do it, but they decide to do it anyway. Near where I work in Bellevue WA, they recently restriped the road to have a brightly painted bike lane, with double-white lines to make it abundantly clear that you were not supposed to drive in it. Bright red "no stopping" signs were placed on the curb. People s…

> The West side seems to have less difficulty understanding this.

We still have the unmarked white vans over here. I think it's Amazon.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#118

Post by ssdd »

bpchaps wrote: post #22
tptacek wrote: post #2

Matt's schtick is automated, large-scale FOIA requesting; he obtains huge collections of data from cities and then tries to do interesting stuff with it. Here, he apparently managed to get all the tickets in Chicago for several years running, and then used that data to fix the parking signs. This, to me, is so neat.

Hey! Thanks for posting this, and the kind words. Interesting note about getting data like this - Illinois FOIA allows a requester to submit a SQL as part of their request.. so long as they know the tables and columns within the database ;)

It's rare to see someone go above and beyond a benevolent hobby to build a complete solution to a people's problem.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#119

Post by Nasrudith »

xbryanx wrote: post #77
acct1771 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm kind of on a negative streak these days, so forgive me, reader, but...why in god's green earth aren't these the government's hobbies?!

When is...dear educated technologists...the last time you even slightly considered working for city government? Alas, our best and brightest aren't serving the people. They toil at advertising.

I tried to do so but never made it past their interviewing - which was glacially slow and involved a 1/10th chance all things equal even when there were multiple identical positions open. From what I could gather in many cases the agencies were often at the mercy of poor organization from above.

Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets

#120

Post by thatjsguy »

jimmaswell wrote: post #114
thatjsguy wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good lord, just park and walk. Or use that bike lane. Cities have an overabundance of expensive parking [1], which does nothing but waste space and act as giant thermal batteries. Everyone loves complaining about traffic, but we don’t seem to have the political will to do something about it (namely: reduce our dependence on cars). Cities should work to reduce their dependence on cars, not increase it at the expense o…

In my area, there are places you have to "park and walk" to and places you can just drive to. Second category are the only ones that get my business.

Do you live in a city or a suburb?
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