Meet The New Parking Sign That Might Save Los Angeles From Itself

The only thing worse than traffic in L.A.? Parking in L.A.

By
Claudia Koerner
by Claudia Koerner

BuzzFeed News Reporter

It's no secret — parking in L.A. can be a nightmare.

It's an issue that's been on the mind of New York-based designer Nikki Sylianteng, who created the To Park or Not To Park project.

Nikki Sylianteng @nsylianteng

“@toparknottopark: Culver City sign deciphered! http://t.co/3OV486iMtK”

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Sylianteng used a colorful grid to replace stacks of wordy, sometimes overlapping restrictions. Her first prototype redesigned the parking signs in her neighborhood last year, and the revamp caught the eye of Los Angeles officials last year.

"It was an elegant solution to what has been a very confusing situation," Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian said.

The local Department of Transportation and the mayor enthusiastically responded as well, Krekorian added, and the city created a prototype very similar to Sylianteng's designs. L.A. will be the first city to officially bring her idea to life, he said.

"We think this is a good design, but we want to see how it works in practice," Krekorian said.

On Wednesday, the L.A. City Council moved to start a pilot program introducing 100 new signs to part of downtown.

Councilman Paul Krekorian

The proposal has been making its way through the city for months, and the new signage will be unveiled Friday.

So far, Krekorian said he's heard positive feedback from L.A. drivers who had been puzzled by the existing stacks of restrictive signs. When a driver who thought they could legally park in a space gets a ticket for misunderstanding the sign, Krekorian said it's natural to react with anger.

"It really does cause a great deal of confusion," he said.

Signs with a better design should lead to fewer parking tickets, as well as fewer headaches for drivers, he added.

"It's a simple matter of fairness," Krekorian said.

Could parking actually get easier in L.A.?

Via gifbay.com

Residents will get a chance to weigh in on the new signs during the pilot program, and leaders will decide after six months whether to take them citywide.

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