I live in LA and almost all of the timed/paid restrictions are really simple: the cost never changes (it's almost always $1/hour) and I think the signs are fairly clear and well-designed.

Ignore the "1 minute" (the "minute" was a printer error; it was supposed to be "hour") but this is as complicated as the signs get: https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/1-minute-parki...

All the other restrictions are mostly special cases:

* Street cleaning (weekly for a few hours)
* Rush hour no-stopping (because drivers tend to stop/wait on busy streets)
* Rush hour no-parking (often used to switch a lane to/from parking)
* School zone loading-only during pick-up/drop-off times
* Loading-only (or taxi) zones during busy bar nights (Friday/Saturday nights)
* Permit parking exemptions (so people who live near business districts aren't subjected to timed restrictions)
* Permit-only parking
* Limiting overnight parking
* Temporary no-parking/no-stopping (used a lot for road work and filming)
* Special-class parking (cars with someone who has a walking handicap, car-sharing programs, etc.)

Then other distinctions that are important (that often don't get communicated on redesigned signs) are:

* Ticket vs tow-away
* Ticket cost increases (LA has "anti-gridlock zones" that double the fines during rush hours)
* How to pay (e.g. for areas with centralized meters or maybe pay-by-phone)

* * *

Each of those special-case restrictions has a good purpose (theoretically the city has determined they'll be somehow beneficial) so to make parking simpler, they'll either need to do away with special cases or expand them to make parking more restrictive.

In addition, most signs come from a template and it's probably much easier / more cost effective to just grab a sign off a stack or just fill in a template.

After I saw these signs, I thought they were a great idea but after looking around where I actually park, they would make parking much more confusing. The sign outside my apartment says "No parking 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Thursdays, Street cleaning" and the nearby business district has "2 hour parking M-F 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Weekends 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.".

Most of the huge/confusing signs you find pictures of online are 1-2 normal restrictions stacked with a lot of single-day temporary signs. (I'm guessing a lot of construction/movies buy signs that say "no parking" with a single weekday and it's easier to buy two, one for Friday and one for Saturday, than it is to custom-make one with "Friday & Saturday".)

Keep in mind that these signs are in addition to other roadway markings like painted curbs, painted meters (short-term parking meters are often painted a different color), and flashing parking meters (most LA parking meters have a flashing light during a restricted parking period). Also drivers need to be able to scan the parking signs when they're going 10-20mph so color codes and large symbols often help to know when a restriction starts/ends.

The majority of the time, parking signs are very clear and seem well designed. Some of the worst cases (say 3+ restrictions) may benefit from redesigned signs. I guess we'll have to see them in use and live with them for a bit to make a better judgement