Q: Back when downtown parking meters for street parking were the single or dual coin-fed meters at parking spaces, Stivic Chenoweth of Seattle says it seemed easier to find a space to park because you either lined up your front or your rear bumper with the meter. Now, because of the new pay stations, no one seems to know where to park, says Chenoweth.

"I regularly pass by block after block where, because there are no spaces marked, at least one parking space is gone because people are parking wherever they want on the block."

Chenoweth would be happy to see painted lines to cut down on wasted space.

A: Seattle's transportation department typically had painted what were called "T" and "L" markings (because they are shaped like the letters) on streets to indicate parking spots as they related to individual parking meters. The parking spots were about 22-feet in length.

But lots of vehicles are a lot shorter than 22 feet, and no longer need that much room to park, says Wayne Wentz of the Seattle Department of Transportation.

"With pay stations now substituting for parking meters, it is also no longer necessary to mark individual parking spots," he said. The pay station ticket is good wherever a motorist parks along the street, including metered parking spots.

Removing the "T" and "L" markings, however, allows more vehicles to park along the same city block, he said. "We have heard from citizens supporting (the department's) attempt to add more parking along the street.

"We have observed most motorists are considerate, and take only the amount of space they need to park their vehicles. Obviously, there are exceptions. It is also possible for a small vehicle to take the spot previously occupied by a large vehicle. The size difference would create a gap between the vehicles.

"In general, however, we have found motorists are able to park using the appropriate amount of space."

Here's another one: A reader asked how meter readers go about keeping track of overtime cars parked in timed zones, like two-hour parking zones, without meters.

"Some of my colleagues have noticed the meter reader circling our building in the Cascade neighborhood, sometimes chalking tires, sometimes appearing to point a hand-held something at the car or license plate," the reader said. "Is that a reader camera?"

How do readers keep track when tires are not marked? What are the rules for re-parking in the area after tires have been chalked? What is the citiation amount for overtime parking? How regularly do meter readers patrol areas in the city? Is there a regular schedule, a staggered schedule, a surprise schedule or what?

A: So many questions. Here are a few answers. The Seattle Police Department's parking enforcement unit says its officers have a number of methods to keep track of cars parked in time zones. Basically, they use chalk to mark car tires.

There are more than five dozen enforcement officers assigned to different shifts, starting as earliy as 6:30 a.m. Officers are assigned to a geographical area of the city each day, and the size of the area depends on the number of officers available that day.

In areas with timed zones, officers will use chalk to mark the tires of the cars parked on the street. Once the last car on the block is chalked, the officer records the time to be able to return after the appropriate amount of time expires. Upon returning, any vehicle with chalk on the tires is subject to a citation.

An electronic handheld ticketing device is used to issue citations and any information entered is done with a keypad. But the handheld device is not equipped with any sort of electronic reader or camera, and is limited to what the operator types into it.

Different colors of chalk are used to prevent crossover of chalking areas, as well as a coding mechanism for time and frequency.

Enforcement officers recognize problem areas more readily than individual cars and will use more scrutiny when enforcing those areas once identified. And that, says department spokeswoman Officer Debra Brown, is part of the mystery revealed.