The proposed solutions come from a misunderstanding of local government. Many cities don't have a central office of parking that is responsible for all parking rules. Different city departments have the right to restrict parking. That creates different signs. In both of her examples, the additional sign on the bottom is a add-on restriction. It may or may not have been coordinated with the above signs. (In California, there are lots of parking restrictions for street sweeping)
The author also attacks the little sign at the top. People like to know why things are the way they are. That little sign (I can't read it exactly) helps citizens understand why the parking restrictions are present, and helps.
She also seems not to understand the difference between "No Stopping" and "No Parking", which is pretty clear to me.
I don't see any system in her solution for handling permit parking.
Finally, her proposed solution would require a much more detailed (and expensive) master parking system. Cities don't have the resources to maintain those, and they would incur huge costs if a city-wide parking rule was necessitated. (For example, if street sweeping is changed with the current system, they only need to replace one or two signs per block. Under her system, every parking sign in the city would need to be changed)
The designer had performed research and learned that no, people DON'T care why they can't park, they just don't want a ticket; and that they don't care about fine distinctions, they want clear unambiguous information.
As for complaining that this misunderstands local government: that's the point, it's user-centric design. Parking signs should not be a catalog of the internal departmental divisions in city hall, they should clearly communicate to street users the way in which the street is permitted to be used. It's like complaining about the design of the iPhone on the basis that it completely failed to reflect the reality of how cellphone carriers operate. Yes, yes it did. That was the point.
That research is incorrect in my experience. People _do_ care why they can't park, because if the restriction is for street cleaning, and the street has already been cleaned, you can park (in my city). If the restriction is for construction, and work hasn't begun by 10am, you can park. So you do need to know _why_ you can't park, if you want to park in certain cases.
You're trying to excuse the obfuscation and confusion that the signs create by the fact that the restrictions are motivated by a few different needs. But the government exists to serve the people. If the city wants to collect citations, it needs to make the signs understandable.
I also don't buy your cost argument. In all my life, looking at thousands of city blocks where I live, I've never seen parking rules change unless the street is being torn up and rebuilt and all the signs are being changed anyway.
The author also attacks the little sign at the top. People like to know why things are the way they are. That little sign (I can't read it exactly) helps citizens understand why the parking restrictions are present, and helps.
She also seems not to understand the difference between "No Stopping" and "No Parking", which is pretty clear to me.
I don't see any system in her solution for handling permit parking.
Finally, her proposed solution would require a much more detailed (and expensive) master parking system. Cities don't have the resources to maintain those, and they would incur huge costs if a city-wide parking rule was necessitated. (For example, if street sweeping is changed with the current system, they only need to replace one or two signs per block. Under her system, every parking sign in the city would need to be changed)