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Anti motorcycle city 5

24 Jul 2005   | James D. Schwartz · motorcycle · Toronto

The City of Toronto hates motorcycles. It is such a hassle to have a motorcycle downtown and use it as a method of transportation. The bylaw officers are complete pricks when it comes to parking your motorcycle. Motorcycles are better than cars for the environment, they take up much less space than cars, and getting around the city on a motorcycle is very efficient. The issue is with parking. When you park your motorcycle on a bicycle rack, the bylaw officers usually give you a ticket. Most buildings downtown charge the same parking fees for motorcycles as cars. It’s ridiculous. It costs $24 per day to park in my work building, and that goes for a car or a motorcycle, even though you could fit 4 or 5 motorcycles in 1 car parking spot. In my apartment building it also costs the same; $80 per month whether you have a car or a motorcycle. I even tried parking my motorcycle in my building’s bicycle parking area, but I was told they would write me up a ticket for parking it there. There was no harm in parking it there; there is plenty of free space, it’s not visible, and it’s not intrusive. I read somewhere that there are some dedicated motorcycle parking spots around the city, but they are few and far between, and are usually full anyway because there are so few of them.

No wonder there are so many cars in the city, the support for bicycles and motorcycles is far from ideal. Support for bicycles has increased in the 3 years I’ve lived here, but every time I hear about a politician trying to increase support for cyclists, there’s an opposing politician that complains and fights for people who drive in the city. A lot of politicians want more automobile lanes rather than bicycle lanes. Haven’t people figured out yet that there are millions of public transit commuters that come to the city every day and adding another lane on the road will just lead to people switching from public transit to driving. The 401, Gardiner Expressway, and the DVP will be busy no matter how many lanes you add. It won’t do a damn thing. Public transit/cycling is the solution, and although it’s coming along, it’s taking a very long time.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/16252632293116411353 iBrett

    I agree with you, Jim. Canadian politicians need to pick up the pace on action to promote the use of sustainable transportation options. It’s a shortsighted view to believe that adding new lanes or new overpasses will solve congestion as congestion will only intensify in the coming years – and at a much quicker pace than we’re experiencing right now.

    I think, like you, that we need to do more to get people into public transit, or walking, or riding their bikes (motorized or otherwise). The only way to do this well is to make alternative transportation convenient and safe. Our municipal and provincial leaders are failing us on that front. I too would like to see the pace quicken at which our society adjusts to alternative transportation modes.

    One question though: why does placing a locking device on your motorbike warrant a ticket from bylaw officers??

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/04454437680686627778 Jim

    I agree Brett. It’s hard though when most politicians are influenced by people who drive.

    They don’t give out tickets for locking your motor bike, they just don’t allow motorbikes to park in bicycle racks. Motorcycles are supposed to be parked in the same places as cars, but to me it doesn’t make sense. A motorcycle isn’t much larger than a bicycle, so they should be allowed to be conveniently parked in areas where bicycles are allowed to be parked.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/16252632293116411353 iBrett

    gotcha. thanks.

  • Anonymous

    Grow up Jim. A motorcycle is not a bike.

  • http://dianne.free.fr/ WhyNot

    “Grow up Jim. A motorcycle is not a bike“

    Err… you mean it’s more like a car?

    Funny how the most idiotic comments are always posted by some “Anonymous” of some kind who never reveals either an email nor a blog address.

    Jim, that is disgusting indeed. At least this is ONE thing where we do better than you guys then. Here bikes (meaning every vehicle that has only 2 wheels instead of 4, Mr Anonymous) are considered …. “2 wheelers”. Not only do you get 1/2 price on tollways, but you’re allowed to park them on sidewalks (in a reasonable manner that doesn’t prevent pedestrians from walking), you’re also allowed (in practice, even if not in theory) to ride between cars, especially when encountering traffic jams, etc.

    Currently I’m living 35km from Paris and work right in the heart of it. 35 minutes by motorbike as against 3 hours by car. I can park my bike on a sidewalk area actually specified as “2 roues” (=2wheeler) 100m from the building I work in. If I went there by car, I’d have to park outside Paris or pay 200 euros a month for an underground parking space 1 km away from my work.

    And even with that scheme, there are at least 999 cars out of every vehicle.