Motorcycle Parking Fee 2015 – Response Coordination Thread | Page 9 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Motorcycle Parking Fee 2015 – Response Coordination Thread

Hi Guys, new to this but was interested in learning more about where we can park for free in the GTA. Is there a list or something of that sort?

Green P street parking in Toronto.

Green P parking lots - will be ticketed.
 
Green P street parking in Toronto.

Green P parking lots - will be ticketed.

On street only during hours that parking is allowed. Don't leave it when rush hour parking is not permitted. That's why you'll find groups of bikes on smaller streets downtown. Also look for yellow reserved for motorcycle signs.
 
I had the pleasure of riding in Australia this winter and we can learn from their experience. Melbourne, which is considered one of the most transit-friendly cities, allows parking ANYWHERE on sidewalks free, as long as it does not obstruct pedestrians walking down the street. In other words, it had to be parallel to the roadway. To get onto the sidewalk, acceptable practice was to wait for it to (mostly) clear of pedestrians, and slowly drive your bike up from wherever there was a decline in the sidewalk (ie. From a street corner). This was done all over downtown Melbourne. Then, to remove your bike, you just drive it off the curb (if you feel you can safely do so on a big bike) or, Wait for nearby pedestrians to diminish, and ride down the sidewalk to a sloped curb. It is acceptable to go slow and any remaining pedestrians seeing you approach will stand aside for you.

I didn't know that at first, so I pushed my rented CB400 off the curb and of course, BAM down on the right side. Luckily it just a brake lever that broke and a $90 repair, lesson learned. The store was amazing about it, "happens all time mayte" fixed it for me and I was back out and on my way.

Driving on the left side was also quite the experience. Just kept thinking "follow the other cars, follow the other cars" LOL. The difficult is knowing where to expect traffic and pedestrians to come from when making right and left turns. I looked in all four directions just to be safe. :)

In Sydney, it's a different matter entirely. NO parking on sidewalks. However, any street parking where cars are, is free. There are sections for "all-day" motorcycle parking, where they encourage motorcycles to conglomerate, especially if you're leaving them for awhile. That being said, they're full most of the time, so most bikes I saw moving were going in and out between cars. Sydney uses the paper ticket system (for cars) like we do.

As an aside, traffic is very heavily regulated and tolled in AUS. anything over 5 km/h can make you liable to getting your pic taken via "speed cameras" and you'll receive bills in the mail. Sometimes you get a warning they're there (like in Quebec) and sometimes you don't. Drivers in Australia have been behaviourally conditioned to stick VERY closely to the speed limits. And many roads in their cities similar to ours, are slower than ours. A 70 kph-styled road here is 60 k there. 50k here tended to be 40 there.

Parking in any car stalls in Melbourne cost the going rate for cars. No one really does that.
 
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On street only during hours that parking is allowed. Don't leave it when rush hour parking is not permitted. That's why you'll find groups of bikes on smaller streets downtown. Also look for yellow reserved for motorcycle signs.

unfortunately, the yellow motorcycle signs are just a suggestion it seems as cars are allowed to park there and often do unless people come early and park their bikes spread out (ie. Simcoe st parking)
 
I had the pleasure of riding in Australia this winter and we can learn from their experience. Melbourne, which is considered one of the most transit-friendly cities, allows parking ANYWHERE on sidewalks free, as long as it does not obstruct pedestrians walking down the street. In other words, it had to be parallel to the roadway. To get onto the sidewalk, acceptable practice was to wait for it to (mostly) clear of pedestrians, and slowly drive your bike up from wherever there was a decline in the sidewalk (ie. From a street corner). This was done all over downtown Melbourne. Then, to remove your bike, you just drive it off the curb (if you feel you can safely do so on a big bike) or, Wait for nearby pedestrians to diminish, and ride down the sidewalk to a sloped curb. It is acceptable to go slow and any remaining pedestrians seeing you approach will stand aside for you.

I didn't know that at first, so I pushed my rented CB400 off the curb and of course, BAM down on the right side. Luckily it just a brake lever that broke and a $90 repair, lesson learned. The store was amazing about it, "happens all time mayte" fixed it for me and I was back out and on my way.

Driving on the left side was also quite the experience. Just kept thinking "follow the other cars, follow the other cars" LOL. The difficult is knowing where to expect traffic and pedestrians to come from when making right and left turns. I looked in all four directions just to be safe. :)

In Sydney, it's a different matter entirely. NO parking on sidewalks. However, any street parking where cars are, is free. There are sections for "all-day" motorcycle parking, where they encourage motorcycles to conglomerate, especially if you're leaving them for awhile. That being said, they're full most of the time, so most bikes I saw moving were going in and out between cars. Sydney uses the paper ticket system (for cars) like we do.

As an aside, traffic is very heavily regulated and tolled in AUS. anything over 5 km/h can make you liable to getting your pic taken via "speed cameras" and you'll receive bills in the mail. Sometimes you get a warning they're there (like in Quebec) and sometimes you don't. Drivers in Australia have been behaviourally conditioned to stick VERY closely to the speed limits. And many roads in their cities similar to ours, are slower than ours. A 70 kph-styled road here is 60 k there. 50k here tended to be 40 there.

Parking in any car stalls in Melbourne cost the going rate for cars. No one really does that.

Up the gold coast in Brisbane I noticed similarities. Same parking bays , and on highways very controlled speeds due to speed cameras on bridge over passes. Mind you though, at leastthey had round-a-bouts and also in the 2 weeks I was there I saw 2 stop signs. Oh, you should have gone to NZ, we're a lot more aggressive there apparently. Definitley less motorways than Australia and the roads that are 80 here are all 100 in NZ. Its usually not the speed limit that slows you down but the winding roads :)
Oh, and from memory, we had parking bays for motorcycles for all day parking, otherwise put them in a corner near a store etc.
 
Nothing on the May 16th agenda. Next meeting June 20.
 
parked along front st and scott st. (on front st near the entrance of Winners/Marshall) after 8am.

parking enforcement was hanging around until i left.

dont care so much as it was well within the time limits to park!
 
I parked on Elizabeth (behind City Hall) for a meeting on Tuesday. When I came back to the bike, I noticed a parking enforcement officer looking at the scooters parked beside me and typing into her phone. I wonder if they are getting ready to start enforcing the 3hr time limit. Keep an eye out for chock marks on tires. At least that's how they used to check cars for time. Not sure how they could prove that you didn't leave and come back just by recording times and licence plates.
 
parked along front st and scott st. (on front st near the entrance of Winners/Marshall) after 8am.

parking enforcement was hanging around until i left.

dont care so much as it was well within the time limits to park!


watch out there. The legal parking area outside Winners ends but there are some cars parked there with handicapped permits. They park there illegally and meter wardens ignore them. I have see the odd motorcycle parked in between them thinking its a legitimate parking spot and been ticketed.
 
Motorcycle parking is not on the June 20 agenda. Next meeting is September 27, so we're good for the summer.

The Road Safety Plan (as mentioned in another thread) is the first item on this agenda. A quick review of the recommendations shows a focus on reducing already arbitrarily slow speed limits, so I guess its more about propaganda and revenue.

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisio...n=doPrepare&meetingId=10967#Meeting-2016.PW14

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2016.PW14.1
 
Nothing on the September 27th Committee Meeting. Next meeting on October 18.

But there was an item on licencing bicycles. The recommendations seemed to relate it more to supporting cycling infrastructure, but specifically said it wasn't about using licencing to enforce the rules of the road for cyclists.
 
Nothing on the September 27th Committee Meeting. Next meeting on October 18.

But there was an item on licencing bicycles. The recommendations seemed to relate it more to supporting cycling infrastructure, but specifically said it wasn't about using licencing to enforce the rules of the road for cyclists

Somebody ought to enforce laws on these self righteous pr!cks. They blow through red lights, stop signs, riding on sidewalks, taking whole car lanes even when they have their separate bike lane etc.

And they get ****** if you say something...
 
taking whole car lanes even when they have their separate bike lane etc.

In their (our) defence, it would be nice if the bike lanes weren't strewn with garbage, illegally parked cars (including police cars), nails and screws, and shattered glass. I hate using bike lanes because it is entirely likely I won't reach my destination without stopping to fix a flat.
 
Somebody ought to enforce laws on these self righteous pr!cks. They blow through red lights, stop signs, riding on sidewalks, taking whole car lanes even when they have their separate bike lane etc.

And they get ****** if you say something...

Ugh, keep that crap out of this thread. Bicyclists are fine as they are; the same thing can be said about the countless, inconsiderate pedestrians that obey no laws at all.

In their (our) defence, it would be nice if the bike lanes weren't strewn with garbage, illegally parked cars (including police cars), nails and screws, and shattered glass. I hate using bike lanes because it is entirely likely I won't reach my destination without stopping to fix a flat.

Bicycling requires one main skill: common sense. If you use common sense in every attempt at navigating the roadways, you will survive and likely not piss anybody off while doing so.

Thanks for the update, Face!
 

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