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Simplified Street Parking Signs Aimed To Help Reduce Confusion In Midtown

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The city has unveiled revamped parking signs that apparently took a cue from Twitter.

The new simplified signs coming to Midtown and lower Manhattan will have about 110 fewer characters to explain the parking rules, while the signs themselves will shrink by about a foot, according to the New York City Department of Transportation.

"Having 250 characters, four signs - not a way to bring clarity to our streets." DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman. "Twitter was on to something when it limited the number of characters that you could have."

Simplified Street Parking Signs Aimed To Help Reduce Confusion Going Up In Midtown

Sadik-Khan said the old signs were a recipe for confusion.

"Being confronted with a panel of signs that are a cross between an Excel spreadsheet and a totem pole," she told Silverman.

The new signs are cleaner and feature fewer words and more white space.

"The days of the week come before the hours, makes it easier to process the information," Sadik-Khan said.

"You shouldn't need a Ph.D in parking signage to understand where you are allowed to leave your car in New York," said City Council Member Dan Garodnick in a news release. "The days of puzzled parkers trying to make sense of our midtown signs are over. I was pleased to work directly with DOT, removing unnecessary words in these signs, cleaning up their appearance, and the result is a simple, clear product that people will understand."

New Street Parking Signs
NYC DOT unveils simplified street parking signs Jan. 7 2013 (credit: Alex Silverman/WCBS 880)

The goal of the redesigned signs, according to city officials, is to give drivers the information they need to find a legal parking spot.

"By the time you finished reading the sign, it was irrelevant because you were on to the next day," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told Silverman. "They will result in fewer parking tickets."

Simplified Street Parking Signs Aimed To Help Reduce Confusion In Midtown

The city will initially replace 6,300 parking signs across Midtown and lower Manhattan with the simplified signs.

The DOT said the new signs will be posted in the paid commercial parking areas of Manhattan from 14th Street to 60th Street and from Second to Ninth Avenues. Additional signs will be posted on the Upper East Side, lower Manhattan and the Financial District, according to the city.

Do you think the new signs are an improvement? Let us know in the comments section below...

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