New Parking Restriction Datasets

The Open Data Department has added a new batch of data sets to the Open Data portal. Working with the Traffic and Parking department, we’ve created six individual data sets containing different types of street parking restrictions (street occupancy permits for different reasons) and used those six sets and other parking data to create a master parking restriction data set. 

Users can access these data sets to find out where and when there are no-parking zones in their neighborhoods, or to check on their own street occupancy permits, or research past permit trends. The six individual data sets contain street occupancy permits given for different reasons: some are for construction vehicles, while others are for citizens’ use when they move house or hold special events and parties, and still others are for businesses to use.

While contractors and other construction workers may park vehicles with commercial license plates in Permit Parking Only locations for up to three days without a permit when making a short-term repair at a resident’s home, any project lasting more than three days requires a Tool Truck Parking Permit. Traffic Clearance Permits temporarily restrict parking for a specified length of time to provide the proper space needed for the turning radius of construction vehicles accessing a job site. This permit is also issued to provide space for re-routing traffic from a travel lane and into a parking lane associated with large construction jobs.

Cambridge is home to many special events, from the Head of the Charles to the Honk! Parade. For this kind of large event, the city issues Special Event Parking Permits. You’ll also see these permits used for festivals, public safety events, road races, other university events including move-in/move-out, walkathons, and more. Closer to home, residents can request Block Party Permits to have their streets closed and parking restricted when they throw their block parties. Not all special events are happy ones, but they still do need parking - and Funeral and Wake Parking Permits give those planning mourning events access to reserved curb space. 

The most commonly used street occupancy permits in Cambridge are Moving Van Parking Permits, which allow users to reserve curb space for the purpose of parking a vehicle on a city street while moving goods in or out of a building. Finally, Other Street Occupancy Permits allow companies and organizations to reserve curb space for the purpose of parking a service vehicle on a city street.

For the ease of users who are looking for a general parking restrictions list, the Open Data department has put all of these permits together into one master data set, Aggregated Street Occupancy Permits. In this big data set, all of the different kinds of parking restrictions are collected in a streamlined format for easy reference all in one place.