Ok, so an update in the news today about Parking at Green P lots. You can soon pay via Phone/tablets/computers for your parking.. just need to use the posted location ID. They say this will come to streetside parking soon too.. I bet each machine will be fitted with stickers of location codes.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1865394/city-of-toronto-launches-green-p-mobile-parking-app/
So here's a link to the fine print you agree to if you use the Green P Parking App. We need to pay attention to this, because they plan on using this platform to start charging motorcycles.
http://mobilepay.greenp.com/terms-conditions/
Some key points:
- You agree to provide them with
"your registration data, including, without limitation, your name, address, license plate number, mobile telephone number, business details (if relevant), email address and method of payment details";
- "You agree that the TPA may collect and use technical and usage data and related information, including but not limited to technical information about your device, date and time of Platform access, system and application software, and peripherals"
- "Parking rates may be subject to change and it is your responsibility to ensure that you are paying at the then current parking rate. You agree to pay all fees for Parking Services provided to you pursuant to this Agreement";
-"The TPA shall process the parking fee from the funds available in your pre-funded account and/or charging your stored method of payment to replenish your account funds or directly pay for your parking transaction at the time of your parking transaction. You must have a valid method of payment registered and/or sufficient funds in your pre-funded account, or suspension of Parking Services may occur";
- "The TPA is not responsible for any fines, parking tickets, penalty notices and the enforcement of vehicle parking related offenses you incur or receive regardless of whether or not you receive any notification via the Mobile Parking Payment Platform that the vehicle is validly parked";
- "You are solely responsible for resolving with the relevant authorities any issues that you may have regarding the issuance of fines, parking tickets, penalty notices or your vehicle being impounded";
- "in the event that you fail to pay any amounts owing for the Parking Services (whether due to a declined credit card or other circumstances), then the TPA, upon the reasonable request of the relevant authorities, may provide all or a portion of your information collected by the TPA to such authorities, which you acknowledge and agree that they may use solely for purposes of collecting or attempting to collect any unpaid amounts owed by you";
- "From time to time we may update this Platform and this Agreement. Your use of this Platform after we post any changes to this Agreement constitutes your agreement to those changes. You agree to review this Agreement periodically to ensure that you are familiar with the most recent version."
So basically you give them all your info, access to your credit card and a stash of your money, they automatically withdraw funds, and if you get a ticket or towed, they can give the authorities all your data to track you down and defend their case. Oh, and they can record and use your personal data.
What I am getting at is that there are plenty of other options here. We should choose one that is fair and equitable yet still allows the councillors to feel we are paying for parking and is easy to enforce by the ticket officers. Once we have one and a good defense for the chosen option we all use that to email / discuss / promote and stick to it.
Am I way off base here? Should I be putting my flame suit on?
j
Based on my discussions with staff and reading into the report, this is what I expect will happen when they bring a by-law to Committee sometime this year:
- They will charge bikes the same rate as cars in street spaces across the entire city
- They will have machines with reduced rates for motorcycles (either 1/2 or 1/4 what a car pays) next to the 300 dedicated motorcycle spaces downtown
- They will program the app so that motorcycles can pay a reduced rate (either 1/2 or 1/4 what a car pays) across the rest of the city, but we get this only if we have a smart phone, have a data plan, live in Ontario (check the fine print) and agree to all the conditions your are obligated to if you use the app
- They will do it this way because to set up every machine in the city with a 2-rate structure, it will cost much more than they will ever recover.
When the by-law was passed back in 2005, they stated the following reasons:
- "the City of Toronto should do all it can to encourage its residents to use environmentally-friendly modes of transportation, and not penalize them;
- Canada is committed to the Kyoto protocol;
- motorcycles use up to 90 percent less gasoline than a regular car or truck;
- motorcycles are significantly smaller than other vehicles, use far less road space, thus helping to reduce gridlock, and occupy less parking space when parked at an angle to the curb;
- motorcycle operators in Toronto currently experience significant parking problems because other motorists often steal their Pay and Display parking receipts;
- the theft of a motorcycle operator’s Pay and Display receipt often results in the rider receiving a parking ticket;
- the above situations dissuade motorcycle operators from using their more environmentally-friendly vehicles."
The only thing that is changing since 2005, is that the problem with pay-&-display tickets will disappear. I have no problem with treating motorcycles fairly. By that I mean charging us a rate that is proportional to the space we take, and giving us
all the same options to pay that rate as car drivers have. But as a taxpayer, I have a big problem if the system needed to be fair costs the City $1 dollar for every 2 cents of extra income that it will earn (just my guess at the relative cost to equip the entire city with 2-rate machines and the extra revenue that now charging motorcycles will earn).
So if it isn't realistic to treat everyone fairly, based on the reasons stated back in 2005 (other than ticket theft), the benefit should fall to the motorcycles. But that is not what I expect they will propose. Instead I expect that they will put greater obligations upon riders, only so that they can start charging us. And given that the status quo is that motorcycles have had free parking for the past 10 years, and that program is working to meet the reasons it was put in place (motorcycle registration in the city has almost doubled while car registration has remained flat), I think what they are doing is both shortsighted and wrong.
As it warms up, I expect to see the parking areas filling up again.
