Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Springtime means spring cleaning and that includes the city streets.
Sweeping has been underway for some streets, and for the most part, Boston's street cleaning program kicked off Apr. 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
Resources are available to help city residents know the street cleaning schedule ahead of time and minimize their chances of getting a parking ticket or getting towed.
Motorists can use a city database to check which days and times parking restrictions apply to a given street.
Licia works for Boston's Transportation Department and was on duty Tuesday morning.
She said the first parking ticket of the season someone receives for a street cleaning violation usually serves as a wake-up call.
"Once they get that first one .... they'll start reading," she said.
Despite what some city residents may believe, Licia said most city workers don't want to issue parking tickets or have a car towed.
In fact, she said workers try to avoid giving out tickets.
While working on one side of the street Tuesday morning in South Boston, she came across a potential violation, but because the driver was inside the car at the time, she crossed the street to work on the other side knowing the driver saw her giving out tickets.
That's usually enough for the driver to avoid getting a ticket by moving or feeding the meter.
"We just give you that courtesy of you knowing that we're writing tickets," Licia said.
Another resource available to residents to help avoid getting a ticket, or worse, is subscribing to Boston's No Tow program. "It's a great tool to use," she said.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.