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Motorcycle Parking Fees Recommended without Notice or Public Consultation

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Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Janice *****, Committee Secretary for the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in the Clerks Department returned my call this morning and advised that they also did not keep a record of people's request for notification about this issue, and that posting the agenda on the City's web site was all the notification that is required. Considering that agendas only become available to the public 1 week before the meeting, and this has been sitting around for almost 2 years without any public discussion, we now need to make sure that staff are formally directed to consult with us, and notify us when anything is going to come forward.

I've drafted the following motion for everyone's review & comment. Please post any comments, suggestions a.s.a.p., as we need to finalize it and start lobbying Councillors to support it. At this stage, I'm not focussing on the merits of the issue, I just want Council to direct staff to engage in a process that allows us to have meaningful discussions about these specifics:

Motion

Council October 8, 2013

Re: Public Works and Infrastructure Committee
September 20, 2013 Meeting
Item PW25.11 - Motorcycle Parking - Short-Term On-Street Parking and Overnight On-Street Permit Parking (Ward All)

Whereas: Member Motion MM14.19 directing the General Manager of Transportation Services to report on options for the implementation and enforcement of parking charges and fees for motorcycles and motor scooters was adopted by City Council on November 29, 30 and December 1, 2011 with no notice to the public, and;

Whereas: Despite requests from the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, no public consultation was held to discuss this issue, and;

Whereas: Despite requests for notification from individual members of the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, no individual or general notification was provided prior to the September 20, 2013 Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting;

The following recommendations be added to the recommendations endorsed by Committee:

3. Prior to the implementation of any designated on-street motorcycle parking spaces, Transportation Services and the Toronto Parking Authority be directed to hold meaningful consultation with the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, and report back to Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the results of that consultation.

4. Prior to the deployment of any Pay-by-Plate technology, Transportation Services and the Toronto Parking Authority be directed to hold meaningful consultation with the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, and report back to Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the results of that consultation.

5. Clerks and Transportation Services be directed to provide direct notification of any information meetings, reports and/or by-laws to be brought forward, to any member of the public who has requested such notification, at least 20 days prior to the related meeting.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

I've seen more than 20 bikes along Bond street, on several occasions. That's just one area where Ryerson students park. Count the north side of Kerr Hall and you've likely already burnt 10% of those 300 spots, just there.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Face said:
Janice *****, Committee Secretary for the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in the Clerks Department returned my call this morning and advised that they also did not keep a record of people's request for notification about this issue, and that posting the agenda on the City's web site was all the notification that is required. Considering that agendas only become available to the public 1 week before the meeting, and this has been sitting around for almost 2 years without any public discussion, we now need to make sure that staff are formally directed to consult with us, and notify us when anything is going to come forward.

I've drafted the following motion for everyone's review & comment. Please post any comments, suggestions a.s.a.p., as we need to finalize it and start lobbying Councillors to support it. At this stage, I'm not focussing on the merits of the issue, I just want Council to direct staff to engage in a process that allows us to have meaningful discussions about these specifics:

Motion

Council October 8, 2013

Re: Public Works and Infrastructure Committee
September 20, 2013 Meeting
Item PW25.11 - Motorcycle Parking - Short-Term On-Street Parking and Overnight On-Street Permit Parking (Ward All)

Whereas: Member Motion MM14.19 directing the General Manager of Transportation Services to report on options for the implementation and enforcement of parking charges and fees for motorcycles and motor scooters was adopted by City Council on November 29, 30 and December 1, 2011 with no notice to the public, and;

Whereas: Despite requests from the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, no public consultation was held to discuss this issue, and;

Whereas: Despite requests for notification from individual members of the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, no individual or general notification was provided prior to the September 20, 2013 Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting;

The following recommendations be added to the recommendations endorsed by Committee:

3. Prior to the implementation of any designated on-street motorcycle parking spaces, Transportation Services and the Toronto Parking Authority be directed to hold meaningful consultation with the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, and report back to Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the results of that consultation.

4. Prior to the deployment of any Pay-by-Plate technology, Transportation Services and the Toronto Parking Authority be directed to hold meaningful consultation with the motorcycle and scooter riding community that live and work in Toronto, and report back to Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the results of that consultation.

5. Clerks and Transportation Services be directed to provide direct notification of any information meetings, reports and/or by-laws to be brought forward, to any member of the public who has requested such notification, at least 20 days prior to the related meeting.
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This actually seems well thought out and put together. Let us know if you need help or want some supporters at city hall that day. If you really got down to it, I wouldn't be totally against paying for parking. I hate being that guy who expects to get everything for free, so if they can figure out a plate-based system (ticket systems like our current one are doomed to be a mess due to lost/stolen tickets) that works at ALL city parking, I'd let it go. I live so close to downtown and traffic's so miserable there that I should be cycling downtown all the time in stead of some of the time anyway.

But this whole policy stinks. It's poorly thought out and in the worst case might leave us with nowhere to park AT ALL. I'm more than ready to help if there's actually a practical plan that might have some effect.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

How can i help?

Also it seems the motion doesn't explain where that said community is, and how's determined. Makes it easy for them to say we talked to the community. And none of us would know :(
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

What can we do to help?
I don't live in Toronto, but I commute to downtown daily.
This will really affect a lot of us.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Moderators, could you please change this thread title to "Motorcycle Parking Fees Recommended without Notice or Public Consultation"? Thanks

Anyone who wants to help should email their Councillor and complain that staff are pushing this through without notice or consultation. If you wrote in when this first came up, tell your Councillor that you did, and were ignored. If you don't live in the City, but work here, write the Councillor where your office is. The more Counillors that here from us, the better.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Hi,

I am willing to help and have scheduled the morning of Oct 8th to show up to City Hall.

I have 10 years lobbying experience (video game industry) both provincially and federally, so I have some idea how the political and bureaucratic machines work.

It seems to me we have a staff whose success is mostly measured by revenue generation outside of tax collection, and as long as they stay within budget, little risk of failure if the specific business case for a particular policy doesn't pan out.

Politically we seem to have some allies: Josh Matlow and Adam Vaughan. But anyone else? Has anyone contacted either of them yet btw? I am not in either ward but Josh is in the neighbouring ward so I may try to set up a meeting.

As a group, we are not formally organized (i.e. a corporation or an association with an elected mandate) which means it is easy for staff and politicians that have an agenda to divide and conquer. So when 10 or 20 or 50 riders speak up, it is unfortunately easy to claim they are just the loudmouths and the whingers in much larger sea of riders content with the plan.

I think our best bet is to:

- make the negative business case, that is to say that carrying out the endgame for this policy will actually cost the taxpayers of Toronto more in the long run and waste precious resources in the short term trying to solve a problem that simply doesn't exist (who is actually complaining about the status quo???)

- attracting media attention. The national dailies and CBC have all done stories on this issue (the Star a few days ago) and so follow up reports will be easier to solicit. Any PR folks here on GTAM? We may also want to find a stereotypical "upstanding citizen" like a doctor or a fireman be the "spokesperson" as it will work against the mythology that all bikers are gangsters / hoodlums / kids.

As a final note, this is not the Big Battle. If in the short term we get some dedicated motorcycle spots distributed throughout the city and can still continue to use the regular street parking free gratis in the long term we will score a big win. It definitely does seem to be a shot across the bow from staff that they are coming for us, so everything we can do to show them and their masters we will not take this lying down (and in fact we will become a big pain in their @$$e$) will work in our favour.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

BTW I just wrote to Josh Matlow to feel out his willingness to get behind this issue. I see his boulevard parking motion got referred to staff. Will report back if I hear from him.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

|X| said:
- make the negative business case, that is to say that carrying out the endgame for this policy will actually cost the taxpayers of Toronto more in the long run and waste precious resources in the short term trying to solve a problem that simply doesn't exist (who is actually complaining about the status quo???)
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I've said this before, and I'll say it again, and I hope you use this in your casemaking: If I have to pay for parking in Toronto, I will never, ever go downtown again, for Toronto will have removed the one positive thing remaining about it. I currently spend money downtown, some of which is actually collected as tax revenue. Put two and two together, and that's a negative business case. You can quote me on that, and I'd be more than happy to ride downtown to a Councillor meeting, or whatever, and say that to their faces.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Another point to make is that the last time this came up, and part of the reasoning for removing the parking, was that no one the city talked to could estimate the revenue that would be lost from making it free to park. They concluded that the loss of income wouldn't even be noticeable, but suddenly the $250,000 figure is being floated. Where did that come from?
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

|X| said:
BTW I just wrote to Josh Matlow to feel out his willingness to get behind this issue. I see his boulevard parking motion got referred to staff. Will report back if I hear from him.
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I spoke with Brent Gilliard in Councillor Matlow's office yesterday afternoon, and sent him & Councillor Matlow a follow-up e-mail. Because of his interest & position on the scooter sidewalk parking issue, I asked if Councillor Matlow could move our motion. I forwarded the motion, along with the issues list we put together when this first came up. If I don't hear back, I'll follow up at the end of the day. My wife has dealings with Councillors Berardinetti & Crawford (our Ward Councillor), and has spoken with their offices as well. Councillor Berardinetti supported Councillor Matlow at Public Works & Infrastructure Committee on the sidewalk parking issue.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Happydude666 said:
Can someone please post a template email we can use to email the councilors?
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e-mail template. Feel free to elaborate:

I'm writing to express my concern about the proposal to introduce fees for on-street motorcycle parking, which was adopted at Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Friday September 20th without notice or public consultation.

In November 2011, Councillor Del Grande initiated a surprise motion to look at options for charging motorcycles for parking. That motion directed staff to report back by February, 2012. At that time, I asked to be part of the community consultation process, and to be notified when any reports were being brought forward. (if you did) 1 and a half years after the reporting deadline, I thought that this issue had disappeared, but then it showed up on last Friday’s agenda with no notice and no public consultation.

(add a paragraph about how it personally affects you)

When Pay-and-Display was first introduced, no one considered the difficulty implementing this system for motorcycles and scooters. I have similar concerns that these new recommendations could seriously limit the availability and viability of motorcycle/scooter parking on streets. I am asking that Council direct staff to have meaningful consultation with the Toronto riding community, and to commit to notifying anyone who has asked, as to when any further meetings or reports come forward.
 
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Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

espro said:
Another point to make is that the last time this came up, and part of the reasoning for removing the parking, was that no one the city talked to could estimate the revenue that would be lost from making it free to park. They concluded that the loss of income wouldn't even be noticeable, but suddenly the $250,000 figure is being floated. Where did that come from?
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Nobody could estimate the amount that would be lost when they stopped charging motorcycles because they didn't know how many of each vehicles were parking - they could only measure the revenue difference. One of the negative aspects (to the city, and to drivers) is simply the loss of paid space. When a car can't park where a bike is, the space is unsold. If the drivers were to obey the law and pay again each time the "meter ran out", that's even more lost revenue.
I'm not suggesting the city should work to claw it all back, but it's there.

I like the idea of dedicated spots, but there may not be enough to make it meaningful - unless they do a percentage everywhere there are at least 4 or 5 spots, for example. If there is a section of roadway with enough space for 10 full size cars (especially if they spots are painted) dedicate 1 or 2 for motorcycles only.
There may be some opposition to the dedicated spaces if they sit unused in the winter.
 
I will be at L&L (the Leslie & Lakeshore meet for anyone who doesn't know) this Thursday at 8:30 pm if anyone wants to get together to discuss/organize for this issue.
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Emefef said:
Nobody could estimate the amount that would be lost when they stopped charging motorcycles because they didn't know how many of each vehicles were parking - they could only measure the revenue difference. One of the negative aspects (to the city, and to drivers) is simply the loss of paid space. When a car can't park where a bike is, the space is unsold. If the drivers were to obey the law and pay again each time the "meter ran out", that's even more lost revenue.
I'm not suggesting the city should work to claw it all back, but it's there.

I like the idea of dedicated spots, but there may not be enough to make it meaningful - unless they do a percentage everywhere there are at least 4 or 5 spots, for example. If there is a section of roadway with enough space for 10 full size cars (especially if they spots are painted) dedicate 1 or 2 for motorcycles only.
There may be some opposition to the dedicated spaces if they sit unused in the winter.
Click to expand...

How is dedicating spots to motorcycles any different than losing revenue from a car to a motorcycle, as you mentioned? If you dedicate spots to bikes, that means 100% of the time a car cannot park there, and there's a good chance no bike will be there either, so it's just empty. Without dedicated spots, 100% of the available parking space is technically available to cars
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Face said:
e-mail template. Feel free to elaborate:

I'm writing to express my concern about the proposal to introduce fees for on-street motorcycle parking, which was adopted at Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Friday September 20th without notice or public consultation.

In November 2011, Councillor Del Grande initiated a surprise motion to look at options for charging motorcycles for parking. That motion directed staff to report back by February, 2012. At that time, I asked to be part of the community consultation process, and to be notified when any reports were being brought forward. (if you did) 1 and a half years after the reporting deadline, I thought that this issue had disappeared, but then it showed up on last Friday’s agenda with no notice and no public consultation.

(add a paragraph about how it personally affects you)

When Pay-and-Display was first introduced, no one considered the difficulty implementing this system for motorcycles and scooters. I have similar concerns that these new recommendations could seriously limit the availability and viability of motorcycle/scooter parking on streets. I am asking that Council direct staff to have meaningful consultation with the Toronto riding community, and to commit to notifying anyone who has asked, as to when any further meetings or reports come forward.
Click to expand...

This template is awesome but does it not need a line or 2 to direct the councillor to vote on the motion (that FACE is making) or something or have them act on it in our support?
 
Re: Motorcycle parking fees on hold for now

Veej said:
This template is awesome but does it not need a line or 2 to direct the councillor to vote on the motion (that FACE is making) or something or have them act on it in our support?
Click to expand...

I kept it general for now, until we find a Councillor willing to move the motion. At that point we can change it to asking them to support the motion moved by Councillor XXX. Don't wait to e-mail. When we find a Councillor willing to move the motion, you can send a follow-up e-mail with that info & request.
 
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