Modern Vespa

After a year of meetings between the City of Boston and a group of advocates for scooter and motorcycle parking, there will be a ribbon cutting with the Mayor this Thursday. At this point, it is just a pilot in Boston's Back Bay area, but if the 35 or so spots are well utilized, a city wide implementation could follow next Spring. Big wins included convincing the city to lift the typical 2 hour maximum on meters to support all day parking for commuters and pricing these meters @25cents per hour or $3 for the full 8am to 8 pm that the meters are in effect. That is 25% of a full spot (only fair since they can fit four two wheel spots in the space of a single car spot). They also have committed to keep these spaces in place throughout the winter as there are number of year round riders.

It was very exciting to come into work today and see these spaces marked out in front of my office.

Okay!

One victory for us. Great news.

Way to go!

One small step...

Congrats on small victories... and please do tell if you get media coverage. I'm working on the Mayor to so something similar here in Royal Oak. This is the third year of my struggle

Every city should do this.

I'm sure we will get media coverage, at least in the Boston Globe. We have a reporter who has been following this issue. I think what help here is that all interested parties (Mass Moteorcycle Assoc, scooter owners with plates, scooter owners w/o plates) all came together. We each had slightly different concerns, but we were able to educate the folks at the Boston Department of Transportation, and they were open to learning.

We didn't get everything we wanted and we were really advocation for a plan such as what Columbus Oh implemented which is dedicated off street parking in a corral type of set up with an annual $50 permit.

But this is a step in the right direction and now the channels of communication are open

That's great! The City of Seattle did this a while ago, but they don't discount the parking fee at all, so we pay the full nut for using 1/4 of a cager space. Small steps in the right direction though...

We're lucky in San Jose - loads of two wheeler parking - check the map - http://www.sjdowntownparking.com/parking_map.html

And... it's all free!

Congrats! Surprised...Past threads on this issue looked bad for Boston bike parking...

NYC is still in the stone-age...

G

Montreal is not that kind to scooter and motorcycle riders. There are a few (and I mean very few) designated areas where motorcycles and scooters can park free of charge.

There is also a theory (which may have force of law, but who has the patience to find out?) that motorcycles and scooters can also park at the beginning, and at the end, of street parking slots designated for cars.

Here is an example of a motorcycle testing that theory just outside my office. The reflections from the sun made taking this picture difficult.

Notice I circled in white the "L" shaped marker designating where the permitted car parking space ends. Any car parking in the space that the motorcycle is in would surely be ticketed. The motorcycle? Maybe not.

In other two-wheeled respects, the City of Montreal is among a handful of progressive cities worldwide that make available a municipal bike-sharing program. The city is now covered with BIXI stands..

Interestingly, just about every BIXI stand just happens to leave enough space at either end for a scooter to tuck in safely. This is a phenomenon that is sprouting serendipitously all over the city, and here is a great example, also right outside my window.

Close to 300 BIXI stands strategically placed throughout the city means that, in addition to all the existing nooks and crannies where I can park my Vespa, there are close to 600 more cozy spots just waiting for me.

So when it comes to parking for the scooter commuter, although on paper Montreal isn't as enlightened as Toronto, or as forward thinking as Boston, there is no shortage of great spots where you can park a Vespa.

For those of you living in Washington D.C., and for students and faculty at Washington State University in the Northwest, good news, BIXIs are coming your way as well. More scooter parking for DC scooter commuters and Washington State students.

The city started out planning to charge the same as a car, but we were able to convince them that was not in their best interest, because most scooters would not use them at that price. The challenge in Boston is that most scooters don't have plates. And without a plate it was difficult for the city to enforce the ban on sidewalk parking. So they just tolerated it. This led most scooter owners to think it was legal and make buying decisions based upon that belief.

The state passed a law last July to requires plates on anything that could travel over 30 miles per hours, which had huge implications to those who have been able to park on the sidewalk. Ultimately, the city would like to get all two wheel vehicles off the sidewalk, but they will only be successful doing that if 1) the state gets plates on the vehicles (that isn't happening as most vehicles can still go into the RMV and get a moped sticker) or 2) the city can offer an acceptable alternative that doesn't totally change the economics of commuting on a scooter. At .25@ hour and no time limit, I think they have succeeded

I still think that most of the available spots will be utilized by those of us with plates. My LX150 is considered a motorcycle and this has MC plates. A LX50 should have Limited Use plate, but most still have moped stickers. But there are more than enough motorcycles and plated scooters in the pilot area that I think the spots will be well utilized.

I have to say a huge THANK YOU for getting this done. I've been riding to work for years and it was hit or miss if I would get a ticket or not. It got to the point that I stopped riding to work altogether. It just became too expensive.

I work at 501 Boylston st. and first saw the new parking spaces about 2-3 weeks ago (maybe less) I was very excited once I figured out what it meant. So thanks again on a job well done and I'm sure it was not easy.

I'll be riding to work again.

GP

Glad it is enabling you to ride again. I work at 501 Boylston as well. How ironic. I to am realy enjoying being able tp pull into a legal space, feed the meter and park for the day...no more tickets, except the one I got the in early August when I underestimated how long I was parking.

Are you on the gray Vespa??

That's Great, No longer will you have to squeeze between SUVs!!

Nor cover it to avoid a ticket. I've not seen a bike toppled over yet. The city did a nice job with locating the spaces. But they are dissapointed that the spaces are being used almost exclusively by motorcycles with the scooters still parking on the sidewalk. I'm not getting the impression that they are viewing the pilot as a success