Wildside Scooters
In The News

Toronto's amended parking bylaws aid gas-sipping rides
City Hall takes note: National Post story spurs new rules for two-wheeled set
by David Menzies, National Post

Who says City Hall moves slowly?

In late July, Driving reported on the plight of Michelle Calvert, a Toronto-based Web site designer and public relations practitioner who had recently traded in her BMW for a "vino red" scooter. Calvert never regretted her decision, and she rides her scooter on a daily basis nine months of the year.

Certainly, there have been many cost-saving benefits eschewing four wheels for two. Her insurance is half the rate she was paying for the Bimmer, while her gas consumption has plunged by some 90%. Maintenance amounts to about $100 annually. And best of all, she loves how her scooter whisks around gridlock.

What she never enjoyed in the slightest, however, was parking. For example, Calvert says scooter riders can't catch a break when it comes to parking downtown. If she parks on the street and purchases a "Pay & Display" ticket, someone invariably steals it (or the wind blows it away). The end result: She receives a bright yellow parking ticket.

Leaving the scooter in a parking lot is not necessarily a guaranteed solution either. Calvert says drivers -- especially those with big SUVs -- tend to lose sight of her diminutive scooter while backing up (her scooter was knocked over twice while in the confines of a parking lot). Seeking the safe haven of the sidewalk next to her office building did not cure her parking woes. The city's parking enforcement officers would routinely ticket her vehicle when parked on such public space, even though she always made certain her scooter never impeded pedestrian traffic.

Fed up with the hassles and smarting from the sting of several parking tickets, Calvert went public with her complaints and even launched a protest Web site (www.rockthescooter.com).

Essentially, Calvert contended that she (and other scooter riders) was being unduly penalized for doing "the right thing." After all, she asks, aren't we supposed to be reducing emissions as per the Kyoto Protocol guidelines? Aren't we supposed to be doing our best to live up to the federal government's One-Tonne Challenge (in which Canadians are being urged to reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne)?

"People are sitting in traffic in cars and SUVs with the air conditioning blasting, just guzzling gas -- why not make Toronto a 'scooter-friendly' city?" asks Calvert.

To this extent, Calvert is elated that Christmas has come early for scooter and motorcycle riders. Toronto City Council recently approved some major changes to the city's parking bylaws, now allowing motorized scooter and motorcycle owners to park their vehicles for free on city streets that have on-street parking meters or parking machines (permit parking regulations for residential streets still apply).

The amendments were championed by Toronto councillor Case Ootes, who happened upon Calvert's plight in this section last summer. While not a scooter enthusiast himself, Ootes agreed that the city should give scooter and motorcycle riders a break, especially since many owners were wrongly receiving parking tickets.

"I don't think it's fair for a scooter or motorcycle rider to get a parking ticket if someone stole the [Pay & Display] tag from their vehicle or if it [the tag] blew off," says Ootes.

The parking amendment motion whizzed through council with very little opposition. As well, Ootes contends that revenue loss to the city will be "minimal."

While Calvert is grateful that the city is listening to the plight of the two-wheeled community, she'd still like to be permitted to park her scooter on sidewalks, similar to how scooters are parked in European cities. "Scooters are so new here -- it's not like Europe where they are everywhere, so I think our bylaws were never originally drafted with the idea of scooters being on the road," she says.

To this end, Ootes says city staff is looking at the viability of allowing scooters to park on city sidewalks, although he notes that such an amendment would ultimately require a change to the province's Highway Traffic Act.

As a consolation prize for the two-wheeler set, Ootes is hopeful that city-owned Green P parking lots will set aside certain areas for free scooter and motorcycle parking. City staff is currently studying the viability of allowing limited free parking at Green P lots, and the initiative may be approved as early as next spring.

Calvert remains hopeful that further changes will indeed transpire down the road. In the meantime, she admits she's somewhat shocked by the attention the issue has received. As well, she is pleasantly surprised that Toronto City Council has moved so fast in addressing issues that are important to the scooter constituency.

"Scooters do so much for the environment," she says. "Why should we [scooter riders] be punished for doing the right thing?"