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

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

#241

Post by garmaine »

ekianjo wrote: post #134
dmix wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I'm fiscally conservative while also believing public servants should make market rates. Which also means pushing back against obsessing about total employment counts at x rate but rather focusing on the specific utility of individual agencies, policies, and projects. Sadly public salaries and jobs in general are low hanging fruit targeted by short-sighted political campaigns while all other gov spending…

why should they make market rates? they have job security forever? Risk in the private sector should be rewarded somehow.

Why should they have job security more than anyone else?

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

#242

Post by bradknowles »

danShumway wrote: post #147
onion2k wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realise you're being positive and helpful, but I don't think many people could actually have these hobbies. The technical side is within reach of most HN readers, but you also need to see the problem in the first place and understand that it's actually solvable. Most people would assume that any effort would be wasted as the authorities would prefer to keep their revenue generator, so they'd never go through with t…

You could practice and build the skills necessary to have these types of hobbies! Nothing this person is doing is magic, and to the extent that genetics or extensive background prep play a role you could still overcome that deficit enough to at least participate in the space, even if you weren't the most amazing, talented person in the world. It's not like making the world better by addressing weird problems is a par…

No amount of training or practice is going to turn a cat into a dog.

No amount of practice is going to teach me how to see that these problems exist in the first place.

No amount of practice is going to teach me that government types might actually be willing to get rid of their revenue generators.

It takes a special type of person who sees what the actual problem is to begin with, then figures out how to get the data into a format where it all actually makes sense, and then takes the next step of contacting the appropriate authorities to get the problem fixed.

Don't get me wrong, I do understand and appreciate that some people might be able to repeat the same type of success, if only they had more training and practice. But you have to be careful about how you "encourage" that kind of thing.

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

#243

Post by ekianjo »

garmaine wrote: post #241
ekianjo wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why should they make market rates? they have job security forever? Risk in the private sector should be rewarded somehow.

Why should they have job security more than anyone else?

its one of the perks of civil servants and clearly advertised as such.

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

#244

Post by tremon »

chrismeller wrote: post #199
tremon wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are "capitalistic rules"? In this case, the dogmatic assumption that every endeavour should be financially profitable.

I would actually counter with the assumption that every endeavor should not be financially unprofitable. Like it or not, governments work on a budget. Aside from the federal one they’re also usually required to stick to it. I was in no way implying the government was trying to make money off increased fines (quite the opposite with the last paragraph), simply that it would very likely end up costing them more than it…

and that would have a very nebulous gain.

You've stumbled upon another capitalist dogma: that if you can't measure it (like, for instance in this case, the happiness of your road users), it has no value. I would argue that his numbers show that his efforts have prevented 600 fits of rage among the citizenry. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Can you imagine [spending money] because it’ll make [people] happier?

Again, government is not a business and should not be run as one. So yes, I can.

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

#245

Post by ekianjo »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #144
ekianjo wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the government, serving the people? Since when? Do you think they install cash grabbing radars on the roads to better serve us?

There's one neat trick to stop 'them' getting your money. It's so easy you'll be amazed! It's "not speeding" /savedyouaclick

> It's "not speeding" /savedyouaclick

No, because they purposely fine you when you are a few kilometers about an arbitrary limit (let's say 55 km/h instead of 50 km/h) which is not speeding in any way and there is no data supporting any kind of increase of accidents at such levels of speeds.

On top of they they use all the dirty tricks in the books (mobile radars, radars right at the exit of a tunnel) which act like traps for anyone that is not constantly vigilant at their current speed. Let's face it, nobody is spending 100% of their attention on the speedometer while driving.

And when "normal" people around you get fined while you know for a fact they are not driving like crazy folks on the road, something is really, really wrong.

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

#246

Post by ekianjo »

fbender wrote: post #162
chrismeller wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure that's a bad example, but he does kind of have a point. In the blog post he estimated it's saved $60,000 in fines. That's a drop in the bucket at the scale we're talking about (a quick Google says the proposed 2018 budget for Chicago was $10.1 billion), but still a decrease. Not only would it cost the government money to employ someone to go through this data and find hotspots like this, someone to go out and ev…

The government is the only entity that does not have to (and never should) follow capitalistic rules. The government is for the people, and capitalism, by definition, is not.

> The government is for the people

No, the government should be "THE people", not "for" or "by". We introduce many issues with representation of larger groups by very few individuals, that is precisely why democracy/government works best at a local scale rather than State or Nation-wide. It's not very hard to grasp why.

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

#247

Post by snappieT »

ccleve wrote: post #72

I know this intersection. It's at the corner of State and Division, in the heart of the Rush Street neighborhood. The likely reason there are many tickets there is that there are many bars there, and great crowds of people who have had a bit too much to drink. There are also great crowds of cops there every weekend. Without looking at the data, I'd expect that many of the tickets are getting written in the middle of…

Too inebriated to read a sign but safe enough to drive a metal box at high speeds?

Not saying the signage was clear, but that is a very very weak excuse to not understand them.

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

#248

Post by ccleve »

snappieT wrote: post #247
ccleve wrote: post #72

I know this intersection. It's at the corner of State and Division, in the heart of the Rush Street neighborhood. The likely reason there are many tickets there is that there are many bars there, and great crowds of people who have had a bit too much to drink. There are also great crowds of cops there every weekend. Without looking at the data, I'd expect that many of the tickets are getting written in the middle of…

Too inebriated to read a sign but safe enough to drive a metal box at high speeds? Not saying the signage was clear, but that is a very very weak excuse to not understand them.

Explanation != excuse.
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