Beacon Hill residents in particular face a parking shortage. According to the city's Transportation Department, there are 3,442 Hill residents with residential parking stickers for only 1,700 available parking spaces. That makes the neighborhood's parking situation the second worst in the city, outranked only by the North End.

Thankfully, some relief is on the way. Over the last few months, the Transportation Department has adopted three new policies that should free up more spaces for residents.

First, the city has just completed an aggressive review of spaces designated for the disabled. As reported in the Beacon Hill Paper last issue, the Department found out that 46 percent of the spaces designated for the handicapped were not needed. The residents for whom they had been created either moved away, died or no longer required the space. This alone will free up over 80 spaces on the Hill and in the Back Bay. Moreover, the Department has put into place new procedures for applying for spaces which will require more stringent showings of proof and annual reviews of spaces designated for the disabled.

Second, the city has moved to clamp down on the use of spaces by contractors. Boston allows contractors to take over resident spaces if needed to permit staging for construction work. While few disagree that some provision needs to be made for contractors, abuse of the system grew. There was one reported incident of a contractor continually extending his temporary permit for over a year.

In response to complaints, the Transportation Department has tightened up on its procedures for issuing construction parking permits. Renewals of permits will be scrutinized carefully and, even more important, the Department is sending notice of permits to my office and to the Beacon Hill Civic Association. The hope is that a public notification process will enable us to keep a tighter rein on contractor parking permits.

Finally, the Transportation Department has issued new regulations governing parking by commercial vehicles. Boston allows commercial vehicles to park in residential spaces. The sensible notion behind this policy is that plumbers, electricians and other such businesses need to be able to park somewhere while they service their customers. Indeed, if they couldn't, residents would then find it difficult to persuade a plumber to visit.

As in the case of handicapped parking and construction permits, however, this rule was abused. Obtaining a commercial license plate is pretty easy; it only requires paying an extra annual fee to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Commuters from the suburbs figured out that this would be a terrific way of avoiding high monthly charges at downtown parking garages. Although the city had in place rules that required a businesses name and address on a vehicle, that was usually accomplished by using temporary lettering in a side window. Thus one saw the sight of a family sedan labeled "XYZ Company", replete with a baby seat in the back and a sticker from the Dover dump on the window, parking along Chestnut Street "on business."

No more. The city's new rules require detailed, permanent markings on the vehicle itself. Removable lettering will no longer do. These requirements provoked protest from some Realtors, who objected to permanently marring their vehicles, but the Transportation Department held firm. The new rules went into effect in July. They probably won't eliminate all of the cheating that goes on, but they should help.

Three positive changes, all from the Transportation Department, that should make life on Beacon Hill a little less aggravating. But, please, don't use them as an excuse to buy a second car. Even with a few more spaces, parking on the Hill will still be an aggravating challenge.