For example, car owner Scott R. Panzer '88 says he learned to be wary last summer. "This summer was the first I had my car here. There was one spot in front of my apartment where trucks would park while the building next door" was under construction, he says.

The spot was temptingly open one evening and no "No Parking" signs were in evidence, he says. But when he parked in that space, he found the next morning that his car had been towed away.

However, City Councillor Francis H. Duehay '55 says that signs are "not at all obscure."

Cambridge's street cleaning and snow removal programs also present hazards for Cambridge car owners. Lori A. Barry '88 says that one morning, "I just forgot it was street cleaning. There are signs. The ticket was $15, but the towing charge was $40."

And Duehay says the street cleaning's benefits far outway the parking hassles it causes. "The street cleaning program is one of the most popular in the city," he says. "From April to November streets are cleaned once a month. Neighborhoods are much cleaner now. I think the problem is with people who are recent newcomers."

Snowstorms also create parking problems because the city tows away cars whenever a snow emergency is declared. But Duehay says the city does its best to warn car owners in advance. "There are signs on the street which say in the event of a snow emergency cars will be towed. We try to have a loudspeaker go around before the towing," Duehay says.

Rather than tow illegally parked cars itself, Cambridge contracts out the job to three towing companies--Pat's Tow Company, D & B Tow Company and Cambridge Tow--and retains 10 percent of the towing charges for its own coffers. Harvard also retains Pat's Tow as its towing company.

However some city officials say they are less than pleased with the towing companies' performance. City councillor David E. Sullivan says that he has received complaints about rudeness, in particular.

"The city ought to look into doing the towing itself," Sullivan said. "The main problem I have with private towing companies is that they're just so rude. I have received numerous complaints of cars being damaged."

Towing is not the only way Cambridge's parking situation generates money for the city. Parking fines will generate about $4.5 million this year for the City of Cambridge, Teso says. Collecting that revenue has become easier in recent years, because the city got the rights in 1982 to collect fines itself. Previously the city traffic courts had collected the fines, but the court had run into a huge backlog, according to Teso.

The city also gets parking revenue from the two garages and 12 surface lots it owns, "including 41 spaces under the Harvard [Motor Lodge] in Harvard Square," Teso says.

By contrast, the ticketing procedure used by the Harvard Police serves mainly to keep parking spots open for those who have permits, and the fines generate only $25,000 a year, Burns says.

The city's standard fine for illegal parking in Cambridge is $5 plus delinquent charges, towing fees, and storage fees, says Assistant Director of Parking Bernie A. Flynn. All parking meters in Cambridge charge 25 cents per 30 minutes of parking, with a fine of $5 for expired meters, he says.

If two hours pass after the car has been ticketed for an expired meter, and a meter maid notices that the car has not been moved, she will cite the owner for overtime parking.

Cambridge's ticketing system may generate money, but it often fails to discourage illegal parking, Flynn says. "In Harvard Square, it is probably more cost effective for a person to get a $5 ticket and hope that the officer doesn't return, than park in a private lot," he says.