This is a simple python script to watch your vehicles' plates for new NYC parking tickets, using the nyc.gov "eService Center". It keeps track of tickets it's already seen, so it can be run as a cron job in the spirit of urlwatch to e-mail you new tickets periodically.
- python (2.6 works)
- mechanize (python-mechanize in ubuntu)
- lxml (python-lxml in ubuntu)
Run the script with two file arguments, like so:
python ticketmonitor.py plates.txt tickets.txt
plates.txt is a newline-separated list of your New York license plates to watch, for example:
ABC123
FLYGURL2
tickets.txt is a path to a file that the script should use to remember tickets it's seen in the past. This file will be created the first time a ticket is found, so it doesn't need to exist when the script is run.
Running the script will print out a formatted list of new tickets it's found:
--------------------------------
Plate: FLYGURL2
State: New York
Type: Passenger
Make: HONDA
Ticket #: 123456789
Issued On: 09/18/2010
Description: FAILURE TO STOP AT RED LIGHT
Code: 07
Location: At the intersection of
W 25FT S/OF DELANCEY S
Manhattan
Fine: $87.87
--------------------------------
Plate: ABC123
State: New York
Type: Motorcycle
Make: KAWAS
Ticket #: 1234567810
Issued On: 09/17/2010
Description: SIDEWALK
Code: 51
Location: In front of
301 81ST ST
Brooklyn
Fine: $115.00
--------------------------------
The script saves the ticket numbers it finds in the specified tickets file, and re-running the script will produce no output unless it finds a new ticket.
You can run this script under cron using some bash logic to e-mail you if the script produces any output. This assumes that you have your mail command all set up. Here's a cron entry to run the script at midnight:
0 0 * * * python /path/to/ticketmonitor.py /path/to/plates.txt /path/to/tickets.txt > /tmp/ticketmon && if test -s /tmp/ticketmon; then mail -s "new parking ticket!" your@email.com < /tmp/ticketmon;fi
The NYCServ page claims to have maintenance hours 1:00 AM - 2:15 AM nightly and Sundays 5:00AM - 10:00 AM, so probably best to not run it during then.
Q: Why make this?
A: I wanted to learn how to use mechanize, but also thought it might be useful to help avoid being quadruple-ticketed or towed if you leave your vehicle in sketchy locations for indeterminate lengths of time. Uh, hypothetically. But I'm not exactly sure how long it takes new tickets to show up in the system, so don't blame me if that happens to you.
Q: How can I get the 2012 alternate side parking calendar to show up in my google calendar?
A: Add By URL: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/excel/2012_alternate_side.ics The calendar is published in other formats here.
Q: May I use this application for unauthorized purposes?
A: Unfortunately not, the NYCServ FAQ states that the website may only be used for authorized purposes.