clutch
Well-known member
Who wants to meet up for pints?
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Motorcycle Parking Fees Recommended without Notice or Public Consultation
- Thread starter Rob MacLennan
- Start date
kiwi
Well-known member
Pints.. Nice.. What's the occasion ?
When this whole thing came to light a couple years ago we tried to get the word out there to other riders. Someone even printed out several hundred flyers and out them on bikes and scooters downtown to make them aware of the possible changes .
If you meet for a pint downtown, The elephant and castle is a good location. Over 40 bikes park on simcoe and pearl streets...
Pints.. Nice.. What's the occasion ?
When this whole thing came to light a couple years ago we tried to get the word out there to other riders. Someone even printed out several hundred flyers and out them on bikes and scooters downtown to make them aware of the possible changes .
If you meet for a pint downtown, The elephant and castle is a good location. Over 40 bikes park on simcoe and pearl streets...
A few of us did that. I hit the area around Ryerson, but wasn't the only person to do it there.
My email to those who are overseeing the pilot project:
Hi Folks,
From the various city releases that I've seen it is unclear whether passenger vehicles are specifically excluded from parking in the designated motorcycle parking areas, if there is enforcement of this, or if the existing areas are to be treated as 'just a suggestion.' I have already heard multiple reports that the designated areas are insufficient for the existing motorcycle traffic, in those areas, and that passenger vehicles are blocking spaces now designated as motorcycle parking. Based on the lack of advertising for this initiative and the rather small signage this might be forgiven, but it will not give you a clear picture of needed space.
Thank you,
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clutch
Well-known member
Congestion/Gridlock is the top issue in Toronto. There are policies being developed, like the parking issue, with no consultation from the riding community. We hear about developments and then start to organize for each campaign, purely reactive.
Now look at CycleTO, a volunteer-run organization that proactively lobbies for policy change. They are currently 3,000 member strong with a target of 10,000 members by 2018. They are a powerful voice at city hall and have concrete results to show, from building protected bike lanes to repealing by-laws.
Now imagine if we had such a group to advocate for us. Motorcycles/Scooters are part of the solution to the congestion problem, it's an easy sell.
Face
Well-known member
Nice E-mail Rob. Let us know if you get a response, or if they ignore you.
Pint? You don't have to twist my arm too hard. Where & when.
Something like that would make perfect sense, but it's not been mentioned in anything that I've read. Definitely a flawed pilot.
kiwi
Well-known member
so I just walked by Simcoe street. BOTH the parking bays just north of King/Simcoe have the yellow motorcycle/scooter signs.. Thats awesome that they've become the motorcyle parking areas, but I did see 3 service vehicles (white vans) parked there and also someone parked their car with paid Green P ticket. Its not clear if this is a motorcycle ONLY parking or available for both.
I bet the general public would see it as both, especially since it doesn't say anything about motorcycles/scooters ONLY.
viper84737
Well-known member
(sic)
That's exactly how the cash-grab begins. You can tell your children where you were the day it all fell apart.
kiwi
Well-known member
lol.. well, Its nice to have free parking, but we know the reasons behind this was because of the existing system where green P tickets would get lost etc., so the city made an exception. With "cut the gravy", reduce costs and find new ways for earning revenue, our situation for parking motorcycles and scooters is bound to change. There was no "green" or "environmental" issue for giving us free parking.
I don't believe its a real "cash grab" (Why do Ontarian's always use this phrase??) - a real cash grab is when there is an event aty SkyDome or ACC and the private parking rate changes from $6 parking to $25. Now that's a cash grab!
btw - I just saw your link to your Nth American tour. Pretty cool!
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viper84737
Well-known member
"Cash grab" could be pretty accurately defined as a totally unnecessary increase in prices without some equal increase in value.
Ontarians use this word a lot because this province is packed full of this kind of behavior.
"Stockholm Syndrome" is what prevents all the locals from seeing it.
Ontarians use this word a lot because this province is packed full of this kind of behavior.
"Stockholm Syndrome" is what prevents all the locals from seeing it.
clutch
Well-known member
Pick the fights you can win. Free parking, not likely. You can't sell that for the reasons Kiwi mentioned. Reduced parking fee for moto, reasonable. Takes up 1/4 space than a car, able to fit in between spaces cars can't, frees up more parking spaces for cars.
kiwi
Well-known member
)
April 1st to Sept 31st? Really? In the city you can pretty much all year round! Up in the Snowbelt it's typically March until November for many riders.
..Tom
It has been free parking for years so Im not sure its not winnable in the future. Free parking is a great incentive to reduce wear and tear on the roads, reduce traffic and reduce emissions. All of those benefit the city and Im sure Im not the only one who is likely to go back to commuting in a car should motorcycle parking not be free. The more people who do that, the WORSE it is for the City.
More bikes = good for city.
Charging for parking = fewer bikes.
Pretty simple. It will probably take them a couple years to get payback on those kiosks. Why not just introduce it with lower rates when it comes for cars? Remove the headaches around what happens when cars park in the designated bike spots, or they are full of bikes, and bikes park outside of an area controlled by pay by plate. We know that pay and display doesnt work. What then?
Thanks. I sent it from my old "torontoriders" email account, too, that I used to use for the Toronto Area Riders Association years back. I knew I kept it for a reason.
Face
Well-known member
A number of those other reasons were included in the report & motion when free parking was first approved in 2005, but loss of tickets/enforceability was the big reason. The main question with pay-by-plate will be cost to implement a 2-rate fare structure (1/4 rate for m/c' as we take up 1/4 the space) vs extra revenue generated by m/c's. Plus this 2-rate system needs to be implemented everywhere, not just dedicated m/c spaces. Maintaining free parking would be great and would recognize those other benefits, but I think this is a fair compromise.
Riceburner
Well-known member
this get posted yet?
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/c...nnel=e10086195a7c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
Updated: September 15, 2014
6 of the 30 parking locations have been installed and are now active:
Peter Street
Simcoe Street
Simcoe Street
James Street
Victoria Street
Colborne Street
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/c...nnel=e10086195a7c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
Updated: September 15, 2014
6 of the 30 parking locations have been installed and are now active:
Peter Street
Simcoe Street
Simcoe Street
James Street
Victoria Street
Colborne Street
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clutch
Well-known member
Thanks for the link. That page provides an email address (OPandP@toronto.ca) for feedback. I just sent the following message:
The email that I sent and quoted, above, was sent on last Thursday and I've not yet received a reply.
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