The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that the city of Chicago has solved motorcycle parking issues forever with an amazingly in-depth and carefully developed two-tier plan:
- Electronic meter receipts will have… wait for it… ADHESIVE ON THE BACK so they can be affixed to headlights.
- Motorcycles are encouraged to park PERPENDICULAR to the road.
Pathetic. The first point addresses one tiny fraction of the concern motorcyclists have about meter receipts, the main complaint being that a driver (or Chicago’s notorious wind) could simply snatch a receipt from a motorcycle headlamp and place it in his own car (the wind, technically, does not own a car, but if she did…).
The second point is even funnier, as it is presented in this quote:
“It [creates] more spaces for all motorists. Why take up a whole space if you can park it perpendicular?” City Revenue Director Bea Reyna-Hickey said.
Why, indeed, Bea? Any motorcyclist, anywhere in the world would naturally park perpendicular to the curb, but IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ILLEGAL IN CHICAGO. Assumedly, the law is (finally!) being changed, and that’s fantastic news, but don’t insult motorcyclists by suggesting that the idea had never occurred to us, or that the motivation for change was altruistic. Electronic meters make it possible to collect six full-price parking fares revenue when six motorcycles park in one parking space. Thanks for the favor!(And thanks to Team Wysocki for the link to the story)
As we’ve mentioned, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Environment are hosting a Chicago Scooterist Roundtable at the Chicago Center for Green Technology (445 North Sacramento Boulevard) on Friday, May 4, 2007 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. We encourage every scooterist in Chicago to take the afternoon off work and join us, email 2strokebuzz to find out how you can get involved in our planning for the meeting.
Still unclear if these receipts have the payer’s name on them or if a plate# has to be entered. The plate# makes the most sense, something like a “speedpass” would only complicate things like an I-pass. Still doesn’t address the malicious removal by parking valets not possessing green cards.
That really sucks for you guys. At a time when any large city should be encouraging more economical forms of transportation that cars dose something stupid like this should cause outrage. Here in Toronto, two wheelers park for free in those pay and display areas on streets. That was what Chicago should have done as well.
TorontoTL, we unfortunately have a mayor that despises anything resembling blue-collar. And that attitude is carried down through the ranks. This isn’t the forum to talk about neighborhood saloons disappearing or smoking in bars under attack, but the flavor of the city is getting lost quickly.
I can’t belive that parking perpendicular is illegal! That’d never fly in Portland since all our streets are higher in the middle than the sides. A bike parked parallel to the curb would fall over 9 times out of 10.
The parking recipts do have two sides so you have proof you paid (at least the ones we have in Portland do.) However, I suspect that Chicago’s bureaucracy will make it easier and cheaper to just pay any fines.
Exactly, Becky. Ticket first, ask questions later.