61/366 – You ROCK!

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Kirk had a late night scheduled so I rode to work today, nippy but lovely. I love the longer days and I love that I can now ride both ways in the light instead of the blackness. But it was another, unknown rider, who made my day today.

I came at the parkade (the one that lets me park for free) from a different direction this morning. As a result, when I saw a whole bunch of construction I got confused and thought the lot had been closed. So I pulled a U-turn and went back a block to an on street parking spot I can pretty much always get early in the morning and at this time of year. I parked and then started walking, when I got to the lot I realized I’d mixed it up with the one next door, my free spot was still actually there waiting for me, but I wasn’t going to go back a block and move the bike. Besides, the extra distance walking is good for me, and it wasn’t raining (for a change).

At the end of the day I walked back to my bike, and when I got there I just started laughing. Tucked into the instrument panel was a flyer, a very familiar flyer in fact. One that I designed actually. I was carrying a stack in my bag for the same purpose, but someone else beat me to it.

Vancouver has the highest metered parking rates in North America. Not only in Canada, but in all of North America!!

One man in Vancouver received a parking ticket on his scooter and become annoyed enough to initiate some action, a few years back. because of his hard work and the parking rally he organized, Vancouver city Council started to install on street parking for motorcycles and scooters. Four to six bikes could easily fit in one of the spaces, each a bit smaller than a car spot and at the end of the block. Awesome!

Then they put meters on them. And they metered them the same as a car spot. Pay by coin and the spot costs $6/hr but pays for all the bikes in the spot. Pay by phone and the spot costs $3, but each bike pays. So now, instead of $6/hr, the City has managed to generate a possible revenue of up to $18/hr off a spot smaller than that of one car, and on the backs of those trying to be more environmentally friendly by NOT driving their car/truck. At that rate, if I parked my bike for a day, I’d be paying $21/day (I work a 9 hour day). But I could drive my truck and park it in the underground parking of the building for $23/day. So where is the incentive to gear up, put myself at risk in rush hour traffic, reduce emissions, free up road congestion, and have less impact on roads. Gregor Roberston claims to want to “green” the city, but he wants to do it at the expense of those who are trying to do help. That’s kind of like shooting yourself in the foot.

The meters have a sticker on them that indicates that electric scooters may park at them for free. That’s great, but why bother since they are also legally allowed to park at bicycle racks on the sidewalk? Electric scooters don’t carry commuters from the suburbs into town. They don’t have the power for distance commutes. Most of the riders I meet downtown are commuters looking for a fun, less expensive, greener, alternative to driving to work.

And telling people to get on the bus is silly. A bus pass costs me $110/month where my scooter costs half that to insure and fuel. So why would I climb onto the infection-mobile and pay more?

As a result of my annoyance, I started writing letters to the City Council and then I found a Facebook group dedicated to the issue, and promptly joined and vocalized my opinions. The thing is, when you do that you have to be ready to put your money where your mouth is. So, a few months later, I received an email from the fellow who started the whole movement – would I be willing to help? Well, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t. So Kirk and I went to a meeting with some others and got involved. I designed some flyers and handouts to be used to promote a parking rally to be held May 5th, and Kirk started phoning the City Council to badger members into agreeing to meet with Ian (the organizer). Another fellow built a website, and someone else took on the social networking. The flyers were posted on the website for people to print out and distribute, dealers are being contacted and some are providing prizes for the day of the rally. The plan is to meet up at the aquatic centre, and then ride to a busy area and park in all the spots – 1 bike per spot – to highlight how little room bikes need to carry the same number of people into town.

http://www.mcparking.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/180335331140/

http://twitter.com/#!/mcparking/

Vancouver has the highest metered rates in North America, the goal of the rally is to reduce them for riders.

So to whoever put that flyer, the one that I designed, on my scoot? I am glad I screwed up and parked on the street today, because if I hadn’t you wouldn’t have put the flyer on my bike, and that was just awesome to come out and find it. Whoever you are, you totally ROCK!