In Philly, abandoned cars are like giant aluminum pests — persistent and difficult to fully eradicate, and seemingly most abundant in the spring and summer.
The number of reports of abandoned cars to 311 has risen significantly over the last decade in Philadelphia, with seasonal peaks in the warmer months and valleys in the colder ones.
In 2016, the greatest number of abandoned vehicle reports in a month was 1,638 in August. In May 2024, there were 3,585, an all-time high.
But while the number of abandoned car reports remains high, the city may have finally begun to reverse the trend. In 2025, there were 27,992 abandoned vehicle reports, the lowest total since 2020 and down roughly 5,000 reports from 2024.
Those working on the abandoned car problem say progress has come as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration has prioritized it and other quality-of-life issues. What used to be a more siloed process among the city, the police department, and the Philadelphia Parking Authority has benefited from more collaboration, they said.
But even when those parties are working efficiently, the process from receiving a report of an abandoned car to actually removing it can take months. The police department aims to investigate a car within 120 days, according to a police spokesperson.
Some residents said they have noticed a positive difference since Parker took office in January 2024. But in areas with particularly high numbers of reported cars, such as North Philly, West Philly, and Kensington, residents wish more was being done to rid their neighborhoods of the vehicles that have become large, unseemly nuisances, taking up parking spaces and slowing traffic.
“It’s like you’re succeeding an inch when you’d rather have 10,” said Kate Clarke, president of the Juniata Park Civic Association.
A persistent problem
An old car has been parked in the same place on your street for weeks, and finding a parking spot nearby is challenging enough as it is. It’s time to report the car as abandoned to 311. But what happens next?
Philly311 accepts service requests via phone, web, mobile app, and email. A 311 agent takes the information from the submission and generates a report with a tracking number and information about the car, like its location, make, model, color, and condition, and forwards it to the police department.
The police use several criteria to determine if a vehicle is abandoned, but all concern whether the vehicle exhibits safety hazards or violates motor vehicle code. Generally, cars in violation of those conditions have 48 hours before they can be considered abandoned. Those include vehicles illegally parked on public property, or left unattended on public property without a valid license plate or inspection tags.
Vehicles with registration and inspection that have been expired for more than 90 days can also be considered abandoned, as well as those parked on private property for more than 24 hours without the consent of the property owner.
The Philadelphia Police Department Neighborhood Services Unit collects the 311 complaints and assigns them to one of a few different kinds of officers — its own officers, district-specific abandoned vehicle officers, public safety enforcement officers managed by the Philadelphia Streets Department, or the PPA.
The Neighborhood Services Unit also conducts sweeps every other week looking for abandoned vehicles. And the PPA routinely handles abandoned vehicle reports in the 12th Police District in Southwest Philly and the 15th District in the Northeast, which have historically seen the most complaints. Residents may also report abandoned vehicles directly to the PPA, though it directly enforces only registration and parking violations and leaves other vehicles to the police.
Yet there are still plenty of abandoned cars lying around, rusting and taking up space. The Neighborhood Services Unit typically receives 700 to 800 abandoned vehicle complaints per week, police said. Limited storage capacity for repair shops and tow operators also can lead to more cars left on the streets, and there has been a nationwide uptick in stolen cars in recent years.
The police and PPA used to handle abandoned vehicles mostly independently, but under Parker, there is more collaboration and a more proactive focus on the issue, according to PPA executive director Richard Lazer, who came to the agency from the city in 2022. From that May 2024 peak, abandoned vehicle reports dropped by about 1,000 last May.
“Everybody is rowing in the same direction,” Lazer said.
The number of reported cars may not tell the full story. Multiple reports could concern the same car, though 311 does work to consolidate them. When police or the PPA investigate a reported vehicle, officers determine if it meets the criteria for towing, or should receive a warning instead, or may not qualify for enforcement at all. It could just be gone by the time they arrive.
Lazer said he believes the city is doing a better job on abandoned cars than the numbers suggest. He thinks more people are contacting 311 about abandoned cars now that they are aware of Parker’s broader focus on cleaning up the city.
“When people see results … when people see that there is more emphasis on this quality-of-life work, you’ll get more people who put in more complaints because they feel like — you know what, there’s things happening,” he said.
One car at a time
It’s a typical day for Lucinda Hudson as president of the Parkside Association of Philadelphia if one of her neighbors calls to complain about an abandoned car.
“We get those calls quite often,” she said.
Hudson said traffic and parking are strained in her West Philly community, and the presence of abandoned cars only makes the streets more crowded. She finds the PPA and police are fairly responsive when neighbors report an abandoned vehicle, though that does not necessarily mean the car gets towed right away.
Police have to investigate the reported vehicle, and there is nothing they can do if the car is in a legal parking space and has proper registration, an officer told her.
Neighborhood leaders said some residents are frustrated with how long the process can take.
“Abandoned cars aren’t always a priority,” Clarke said. Her Juniata Park community had more than 1,050 abandoned vehicle complaints last year, the fifth most of any neighborhood.
But though the problem is not improving as quickly as they would like, both women give Parker and the city credit for the work they are doing to chip away at things.
“I think they are doing the best that they can. … It’s time-consuming,” Hudson said.