Park at Your Own Risk by University of Washington

This deep dive unravels the surprising partnerships and hidden profits behind the machine of parking enforcement in the United States.

The project is part of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Washington and a Seattle non-profit that helps vehicle residents (people who live in their cars because they would otherwise be homeless). People who live in their cars are particularly vulnerable to debt and vehicle impoundment from unpaid parking tickets.

For most people, parking tickets are annoying, but manageable. Many people do not realize that there is a substantial privatized system in place to enforce unpaid parking tickets—and that this system allows one’s car to be forcibly seized and sold.

Cities increasingly rely on private companies to collect revenue from parking tickets; these partnerships disproportionately harm low-income earners, forcing the most vulnerable citizens to lose their car and accumulate personal debt.