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New parking system designers forgot about motorcycles

Calgary went to a similar system a couple years ago. You have to enter the plate number of the vehicle in and there is no need to display a payment slip. They use an automated system with cameras mounted to a vehicle that patrols the streets and compares plates of parked vehicles against those entered in and currently paid up. The problem for motorcyles here is that you are required to park paralell to the curb so they can read your plate. The other issue has seen some drivers getting ticketed before they can walk to the end of the block and pay for their parking if the patrol vehicle happens by just after they've parked.

It seems no system is perfect.

There are some private lots that issue a stub for parking. I usually pay up and pocket the stub. If I were to find a ticket on my bike upon return, I could fight it by providing the stub and using the argument of having no safe location to display it, but have yet to need to do so.
 
The city of Toronto has the same style of parking and paying. However, they have free parking for motorcycles and scooters. Angled parking so they can fit more bikes in the spaces.
 
walterK75 said:
The city of Toronto has the same style of parking and paying. However, they have free parking for motorcycles and scooters. Angled parking so they can fit more bikes in the spaces.
Click to expand...

Calgary Parking Authority hasn't been so generous or enlightened :mad That helps to explain why we continue to have one of the highest parking costs in North America. :scratch
 
Windsor has the pay and display machines. I asked this same question of a traffic warden and he suggested I keep the payment stub on me. Said if I got a ticket I could use it to have the ticket quashed. Sounds darned inconvenient.

I put the stub on my bike and take a picture with my iPhone showing it in place. I haven't had one taken from the bike yet. If someone swipes it and I have to fight a ticket, I can just e-mail the picture to the enforcement office.

I just wish other cities would follow Toronto's lead.
 
We have that system in Portsmouth. I used to put the slip in my gas cap. Now I use a large paper clamp hooked over one of the cables. It works fine, the biggest annoyance is screwing with the damn machines.
 
In Chicago you are supposed to write your plate number on the ticket and peel off the back and stick it on your headlight. It works ok except I never have a pen on me when riding. I haven't been ticketed yet.
 
Some of the cities here has electronic meters that require the parking spot be entered as well. However, some do not. I haven't even thought about what to do if on a bike? I think I might be include to put it some where on the bike which can easily been seen, and take a photo with my cell phone proving purchase, just in case.
 
88bmwJeff said:
Some of the cities here has electronic meters that require the parking spot be entered as well.
Click to expand...

Using Redwood City as an example (because I park there most every Saturday) the receipt you get from the machine explicitly says do NOT place on dash. So how do they enforce parking? Simple: the officer goes to the pay station and gets a list of spots that are not paid up. Cars in those spots get tickets. I think they use some kind of hand-held device to query the pay station, not sure.

Your receipt can be used should the officer make an error. As to why they don't want receipts on your dash... best guess is that they don't want folks to somehow know that a particular spot still has some time left, forcing them to feed in their 50 cents. :dunno
 
What a fine example of the people we elect to run our cities. No need to sweat the details or think long term. No, those people actually run successful businesses. When they cannot figure out simple things like how to pay for parking we are all truly screwed. What chance does social security have?
 
Chicago's recently retired mayor " Daley the son" sold the metered spots to a New York City firm for a 75 yr lease. The sum we received was all spent in less then a year. Now, newly retired, he takes a job with( wait for it)


The law firm that brokered the deal!!!
Viva revolucion!!!!!
 
Man it must really suck to live in a big city now a days!! Around her the biggest problem we have is dodging tourists and sand. Free parking and doubling up ( and even three or four bikes) in a parking slot is normal. You folks can keep your big cities!!
 
bunkyone said:
man it must really suck to live in a big city now a days!! Around her the biggest problem we have is dodging tourists and sand. Free parking and doubling up ( and even three or four bikes) in a parking slot is normal. You folks can keep your big cities!!
Click to expand...

+1!
 
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