In practice, you can probably get away with it in less-crowded areas, but I wouldn’t dare park a moped on the sidewalk in the Loop or a touristy/trendy area, or be surprised if you get a ticket for it anywhere in the city.

Mopeds also require the City Road Use tag, by the way, that’s a scarier ticket than the parking ticket, and if you don’t have one, you’re even more likely to be “towed,” (lock cut, thrown on a truck, then thrown in a pile at the tow yard). I never risk it because I’ve seen the consequences, but some people want to pretend it can’t happen.

That photo in the brochure is funny, because the point of it is to show how to park at electronic meters, yet it’s clearly sharing a space at a traditional meter. When we pointed that out to the DOT people when they showed us the draft at the roundtable, they were embarassed and said they’d change the photo, but they didn’t, so I’d say that’s as good of an argument as any if you’re fighting a ticket.

Here’s a link to the City of Chicago Department of Revenue website which has a FAQ section as well as a “Guide for Parking your Motorcycle or Scooter in Chicago”.

Finally, the website also includes a list of a few parking garages which offer discounted monthly rates for Scooters / Motorcycles. If you work downtown, it might be a good idea to try contacting a parking garage near you to see if they’re willing to match the rates that their competitors are offering.

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalDeptCategoryAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0214573160.1183484034@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceaddlghdjfehcefecelldffhdfhg.0&deptCategoryOID=-536897353&contentType=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Dept&entityName=Revenue&deptMainCategoryOID=-536889525

http://fogcitylawstudent.blogspot.com/2006/10/victory.html

A while ago I met some friends at a place in the Tenderloin after class. There wasn’t any motorcycle spots around so I decided to park on the sidewalk. I ended up getting a $100 parking ticket from SF DPT for a “parking on sidewalk” violation of CA Vehicle Code Section 22500. Anyways, I won the appeal based on four grounds:

1) I argued there is an explicit statutory exception for parking small scooters such as mine on the sidewalk when there is not motorcycle spots around. VC22500 has an exemption that states: “except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic.” I argued that my scooter is just a 150 pound, 49 cc yamaha vino – one of the smallest models on the market. I argued that it is very difficult for cars to see it when i park in car parallel parking spots and that it has been run into in the past. The administrator seemed very convinced by this argument.

2) I argued it was not within the spirit of the statute b/c the statute was designed to prevent people from blocking sidewalk traffic with their cars. My scooter only took up 1.5 ft width of a 12-15 ft. wide sidewalk. It definitely did not block any traffic. The administrator also seemed convinced by this argument.

3) I made a necessity argument that based on the area (the Tenderloin is a very high crime rate area) I need to lock my scooter up to something to prevent it from being stolen and that my lock couldn’t reach from the street. This was a shaky argument.

4) I argued for a public policy exception that it is bad public policy to have a small 150 pound scooter take up an entire 20 ft. parking space when it can easily be parked on the sidewalk and make room for a car to park on the street. This argument seemed shaky to me but the administrator liked it. She said the city recognizes this public policy and has been trying to make more motorcycle parking spaces to encourage more motorcycle and scooter use since they save so much parking/traffic space and they are better for the environment.

Any updates regarding court and contesting your ticket in front of a judge??
I just got my first ticket and I wanted to contest it as well.

The issue is: If we park them in the street, they get moved, stolen, or damaged because they are so light and small. That is why they need to be chained to a rack somewhere.

If we park them at a Rack they get ticketed. The City needs to help protect them some how.
Keep us posted!!

but they like to make exceptions for scooters they dont like and issue you a ticket and tow order for more than 7 hours. mother f*ckers.