922,000 parking tickets issued in Los Angeles during first half of 2024

When you walk through Venice, you quickly notice that street parking is a premium — and according to a new report, it can be costly.

Crosstown LA recently analyzed data from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. It found during the first half of 2024, about 922,000 parking tickets were handed out, with more than 241,000 issued for being in a street cleaning zone. 

"I think it's mostly people who aren't really looking around where they're going as far as parking goes," resident Shane Louie said. 

The count was much lower in 2020 when parking restrictions were relaxed during the start of the pandemic. Still, the latest tally is lower than pre-pandemic levels. 

"for our community, we welcome the citations because it helps free up parking for residents," said Mark  Ryavec, president of the Venice Stakeholders Association.

He added that people have been living in cars and RVs for years and that there needs to be a way to keep them from staying put.

"Most of the people being cited here are visitors," Ryavec said. "They're going to the beach and they don't bother to read the signs."

Crosstown LA also said that the Bureau of Street Services has been short-staffed. So, instead of sweeping the street every week, they switched to a bi-weekly schedule. To avoid confusion, residents can sign up for email notifications through the Streets LA website. 

"This side of the street, it's Monday. That side of the street is Tuesday. Different time here than maybe one block over," resident Matthew Shrenk said. 

Shrenk says he gets a parking ticket every four months since he doesn't have a garage for his Venice home. 

So far this year, the most tickets have been issued in Venice, followed by Boyle Heights, the Westlake District, Koreatown and Hollywood. The LA Department of Transportation says it only enforces posted street sweeping restrictions on weeks when maintenance occurs.

"If you're out of town, you have to get somebody to move your car while you're not here, so leave them a key," Shrenk said. 

Crosstown LA also found that more tickets were issued on Thursdays than Mondays for some inexplicable reason.