If you live in Boston and its neighborhoods - this includes Allston, Brighton, Jamaica Plain, Charlestown, the South End, etc. - then you can get a parking permit through the City of Boston. We can take care of it for you for $90, which includes the price of the permit itself. When we get a permit for you that means we go to City Hall, purchase the signs and the permit and put the signs up for you 48 hours in advance. That's the least amount of time before the date of your move that you can request a parking permit. We tend to get them even earlier than that if possible, but we do wait until 48 hours ahead of time to put up the signs. We learned through experience that putting the signs up much earlier than that often leads to the signs disappearing or getting ruined, whether that's due to weather or someone who wants to park in that spot is anyone's guess.
You can also go get a permit from City Hall yourself. If you choose to go this route we send you a copy of our street bond letter which is on file with the City. You would then go down to City Hall at least 48 hours in advance (their offices are closed on weekends) and head to the 7th floor and go to room 721, the Boston Transportation Department, which is right near the elevators. They'll ask you to sign in and then you'll wait for one of the people who work there to come and call for whose next. Bring them your copy of our street bond letter, tell them what date you want and what the address is. They will also ask you how much space you need for the truck. All this information will be on the street bond letter we send you. You will have to pay by check. The BTD charges $4/sign, so typically $8 total. After you receive your signs go down the hall to room 714. This is the Public Works Department and they will have received your information from BTD. Present your street bond letter to them and they'll hand you a permit to sign. They'll also tell you the fee, which can be paid by check, money order or cash. The fee is variable based on the size of the truck, number of meters being covered, etc. If you live on a street with meters you'll need to note the meter numbers we'll be blocking with our truck. That information is very helpful to us as well if we're the ones getting the permits. Once they have payment and you've signed the permit they'll hand you your copy of the permit, which you should keep available for the day of the move.
Keeping the permit paperwork is very important for the move. Any time we deal with permits we bring it with us on the jobs. There's a lot of important information in that little packet. First, the actual permit should be displayed on our truck dashboard. Its kind of an insurance policy for the parking signs. Second, there's information in there about what to do if someone is parking in your marked off spot. If you notice there is someone parked in your spot the day of your move let us know as soon as possible. Then, call 911. I know that sounds ridiculous but its right there in the City issued permit paperwork. You call 911, let them know its not an emergency and they will direct your call to the appropriate person. This will start the wheels in motion to get the offending car towed. Towing cars takes a long time and is often not the best course of action, but it is always an option when you've got the permit to be there. Often, because it usually takes an hour or more to get a tow, we double park or find another space to put the truck. Having the permit should keep us from getting a ticket if we have to park somewhere funny because another car is in our place.
Once you have your signs and permit paperwork you can go about the business of physically posting the signs. As I mentioned, its best to do it as close to the 48 hour mark as is reasonable. We can only speculate, but we've seen our parking permits "lost" due to others wanting to park there (particularly in bad weather or when there's huge piles of snow everywhere), meter maids taking them down to issue us a ticket, other moving companies taking them down, etc, etc. The less time those signs are up there the less time there is for them to disappear.
Actually putting them up can be a challenge. We recommend zip ties or heavy duty tape such as packing tape. As you can see in the photo above, sometimes there's just nothing to hang them on and you have to get creative. This particular customer used string run between two trees and then attached a broom to the sign to weight it down. There are many, many spots in Boston where good sign locations are few and far between. Do what you have to do to put them up. I've adhered them to fences, light posts and trees, to name a few. Don't put them up on fire hydrants, bus stop signs or anything else that might get you or us in trouble.
There are some other challenges to parking permits as well. One thing to think about is whether or not you live on a private way. They're all over the place in Boston and City Hall can't issue permits for them because they're not owned by the City. If you live on a private way you'll have to kindly ask your neighbors to leave space for our truck. Its also important to be aware of street festivals or closings. The City will not issue a permit for a road that's closed off due to a street festival or road work. Also, if someone else has already requested a permit for the same spot on the same day you will not be able to get a permit. In that case, just you can hopefully just request a spot a little further up or down the road or around the corner. You can check for already issued permits on the City's website. With that in mind, there are certain times of year where that is more likely than others. September 1st, everyone's least favorite day to move, is going to be a tough day to get a permit as you get closer to that day.
That about covers it for Boston. If you have any questions or you think I left anything out let me know. Or, if you have any tricks we'd love to hear about them!
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