Motorcycle Parking Fees Recommended without Notice or Public Consultation

RetroGrouch said:
How is the city going to lose money? All the motorcyclists leave their bikes at home? In sheer numbers, we are a drop in a very large bucket for 8 months of the year. No one cares about how little space bikes take up and the environmental benefit is debatable. We got lucky that a councilor was bike-friendly but he's retired.
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This was the ONE THING that wasn't detestable about this city, and sure as anything, they ruined it. I'll now be less inclined to go downtown to spend my money there, so the city won't collect that tax revenue from me from a variety of things I'd otherwise buy there. I know I won't be the only one. Plus the cost of installing the systems.

All over a measily $250k, great job everyone! Well worth your efforts.
 
This isn't done yet. They still have to pass a by-law to implement a charge for motorcycles, so there still is a chance to affect the outcome. Our presence at Council had an effect last time. We just have to stay on top of it and make sure we show up at Committee, Council and any other public meetings on the matter.
 
We have a fresh mayor who campaigned on getting rid of gridlock. If we can make an economic argument that motorcycles reduce congestion on streets as well as in streetcars, we may have a shot at getting a sympathetic ear. We need to start early and stay "on-message". @JohnToryTO. Do we happen to have an economist reading the forums?

Here is a link about research done on motorcycles and congestion:
http://www.gizmag.com/motorcycles-reduce-congestion/21420/

It would be great to see the city's assumptions around lost revenue (i.e. how they make their calculations).

It is personal for me: I started riding 2.5 years ago because I learned parking was free. Before that I was driving my car and parking downtown. The cost savings offset the costs of depreciation and insurance just enough to justify it. Of course once I started riding I became a bit OCD about taking the bike everywhere in all weather, but that's a different story ;-)
 
Yup

I think that we should:

1) Put a legitimate and thoughtful survey together to better understand why current motorbike commuters are commuting on their bikes,
2) What those people will do if parking is not free
3) Petition along the lines of the entire city benefiting from more motorbike commuters, and being negatively impacted by fewer, for very little gain ($250k, peanuts).
4) Determine what we do with this pilot, which will go until next fall. Do we abandon the designated spaces in the meantime to hamper the City's ability to know how many bikes are commuting each day or do we do everything we can to give them accurate numbers?

I will take my car if the bike cost me more than $0, because it will be cheaper. I have a free spot downtown that I choose not to use. Yay, more congestion, fuel costs and less room on the roads for all! I look forward to the decline in everyone's lifestyle.
 
This is bs. Free parking got me into riding.

Is there anyone that knows how we can fight this/going to take a proactive approach. I dont know anything about the legal system but there are a bunch of great ideas on here that need tk bw shared with city council.

Maybe even a petition everyone can sign.

Something needs to be done, otherwise nobody will give a ****
 
I think that the scooter people are better organized - we need to join them instead of trying to start from scratch.
 
Write to your councilors. Write to John Tory. Write to the committee. If Face manages to find out when this matter is being discussed again do as he suggests and show up at the council meeting, and the meetings of the committee.
 
msatrakkoic said:
This is bs. Free parking got me into riding.

Is there anyone that knows how we can fight this/going to take a proactive approach. I dont know anything about the legal system but there are a bunch of great ideas on here that need tk bw shared with city council.

Maybe even a petition everyone can sign.

Something needs to be done, otherwise nobody will give a ****
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One of the members here, "clutch" was very interested in this whole parking matter. You may wish to contact him as he was trying to organise a response for when it was needed.
 
I've left a message with the City TV reporter who aired the story, Adrian Ghobrial, questioning why Nazzareno Capano (the City's Manager of Transportation Policy and Planning) was moving forward to implement a charge for motorcycle parking when Council explicitly removed that direction from the staff recommendations back in October 2013. Hopefully this will lead to a follow-up story and a challenge of City staff by the press.
 
You guys suggesting Tory as a target have probably come up with the right move.

They cannot dispute the negative impact that fewer motorcycles and more cars will have on congestion. He campainged on fixing Toronto traffic and just one week after the election the City announces that it is looking to implement measures that will negatively impact traffic in this city?

To me, thats a broken promise if that goes through. Possibly a new record too how quickly it will happen!

hit social media with your comments!
 
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Thanks DDean. We need a hashtag. Any ideas? #motoTO ? #smartWHEELS ?
 
I just email my councillor. It would be great if all could do the same. I asked if this will go to Vote or if it's a no say issue. Last time I did go to City Hall when they were to talk about the issue.
I have to say - I was disappointed with the turn out. I'd say 20 peeps. If we get another wack at it - we need more people to show up.
This affects us all.
Start emailing and calling. I'll post anything interesting I get back from my councillor.
 
Ive had two discussions with my Councillor, Mary Margaret, and she thinks that we should pay for parking. She's not on my side!

And use @johntoryTO to send it to Tory, and all the news people, and competitors, who follow him. Someone may latch onto this and start pointing fingers
 
Is the purpose of replacing the green p machines to make motorcycles pay or were they replacing them anyway? I wonder how much it will cost to replace all the machines. I'm sure it will be far more than the profit from motorcycles!
 
DDub said:
Is the purpose of replacing the green p machines to make motorcycles pay or were they replacing them anyway? I wonder how much it will cost to replace all the machines. I'm sure it will be far more than the profit from motorcycles!
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The plan was to upgrade them anyway. Charging motorcycles would just be a bonus (to them). The question will be if they can accept a 2-teer price structure for m/c's than cars. Anything else wouldn't be fair.

I haven't heard back from the reporter. I'll follow up tomorrow. I still believe that based on the changes we lobbied for and achieved at Council last October, staff don't have the mandate from Council to start charging m/c's. Plus they haven't even had a chance to review the success of the "dedicated" m/c parking spaces. I'm hoping a little press exposure about staff going rogue may slow things down a bit.
 
Face said:
Plus they haven't even had a chance to review the success of the "dedicated" m/c parking spaces.
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This is how they're going to spin it: We installed dedicated motorcycle parking areas but they were consistently underutilized resulting in inefficient use of vital space. Recommend removing them.

No **** Sherlock, the program was implemented in the fall when riding season was winding down.
 
If anyone is interested, I have opened up a page on Facebook called "Smart Wheels Toronto". It can be a public place for those who want to show support for the parking issue. I will try to keep it up to date with new info, and I can invite a couple of the Facebook groups I participate in to join as well.

Maybe it's too clever to mirror John Tory's "Smart Track TO" campaign, but then again maybe it will fold nicely into Tory's playbook. My latest Tweet is:

If we want a "London-style" rail system like SmartTrack, we should also want London-style free moto parking #SmartWheelsTO @johntoryTO

BTW I realized that I don't have any really good pix of Toronto with bikes parked on the street so rather than steal one, if anyone has some good images and is willing to share, let me know :-)
 
Lets not make this about free parking, lets make it about encouraging commuters to commute with something other than their car, and we can also say TTC is overly congested (which it is) and that also needs relief.

Motorcycles and scooters and ebikes and pedal bikes and walking, all good for Toronto traffic.
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