Purple curb parking program continuing through the holiday season

PITTSBURGH — The purple curbs throughout the City of Pittsburgh are here to stay just as the holiday shopping season gets underway.

The city council voted to extend the controversial parking program indefinitely on Monday. The decision to keep the painted curbs comes after they claimed the pilot program worked to move drivers quickly in and out of parking spots.

The purple-painted curb is in front of businesses where traditional loading zones used to be, but there’s still some confusion about how it works.

“I wasn’t exactly sure what they meant,” said Gurudev Dutt of Squirrel Hill. “We know about the yellow curbs but not the purple so I wasn’t sure if it meant I couldn’t park there, or if I’m allowed to park there for a few minutes.”

Drivers can park in the spots for 15 minutes for free. After that, they’re charged the hourly metered rate and if a driver is parked there for up to an hour, the rate is doubled. The purple parking sign alerts drivers that they’re being monitored by cameras.

City officials have said the purple curbs make it easier for delivery drivers or pick-ups and cut back on double parking.

Some business owners along Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill argue the program is nothing more than a money grab from the city telling Channel 11 deliveries can sometimes take 30 minutes to an hour to unload. They believe the curbs and surveillance cameras are keeping customers away.

“I can certainly see why for a business it would seem unfair to have to start suddenly paying for it when they were previously not having to pay, but I can also see the city’s viewpoint that they want to get some revenue from that space,” Dutt said.

Several drivers believe the city should get rid of the purple curbs.

“I say go back to the way it was,” said Dutt.

Michael Hoffman of Squirrel Hill agreed.

“It seemed like if things were fine without them and additional ways of taxing people aren’t always necessarily good just because they provide tax,” Hoffman said.

City council members said there was a 75% increase in people parking for less than 15 minutes in the spots and a 95% reduction in double parking.

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