Where parking fines hit hardest around Boston
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Parking scofflaws beware. No one likes seeing the dreaded orange envelope beneath their wiper, but parking violations in some parts of the Boston area are cheaper than others.
Why it matters: We compared parking ticket fines in some of Greater Boston's biggest municipalities to see where starving the meter or blocking a bike lane will get you a slap on the wrist and where a ticket will send you into debt.
The bottom line: Boston typically charges way more for tickets than its neighbors do.
- A bike lane, bus stop or fire hydrant ticket costs $100 in Boston.
- Blocking a loading zone is $90 and parking in a crosswalk is $85.
The time-honored tradition of double parking is a lot cheaper in Newton than in other towns at just $15.
- In Boston, double parking is $55, though you'd never know it's even illegal if you've driven through Southie.
And don't you dare get caught on the wrong side of the road on street cleaning night in Boston, where a violation costs $90.
- Somerville charges $50 for a street cleaning violation. In Newton, it's $20.
- Brookline doesn't allow parking overnight, so it would be a $30 ticket.
- Cambridge stopped towing cars blocking street cleaning last year and upped fines from $30 to $50.
The fine for blocking a bike lane ranges from $15 in Newton to $100 in Boston, where bike lanes have become a priority.
What we're watching: Somerville plans to use robot cameras to surveil Davis Square for illegal parking.