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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

Don’t park that scooter on the sidewalk

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With the expansion of the use of scooters in the city (Vespa is the most famous brand), I noticed a lot more of these scooters parked on sidewalks this summer.

Scooters have the potential to be a good thing. If they are replacing a car ride, they take up a lot less space on the road, and the modern versions use far less carbon-emitting fuel and emit fewer pollutants than a car.

They should not, however, be taking up sidewalk space. At yesterday’s meeting of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee, Sgt. Tim Burrows of Toronto Police Services noted that, as they are considered motor vehicles and are subject to the same rules, it is illegal to park a motor scooter such as a Vespa on the sidewalk (additional note – that means, on any part of the sidewalk, including the boulevard).

Nor should there be any need to. In 2005, recognizing the potential good of replacing cars with scooters (and the difficulty of displaying pay-and-display tickets on them), City Council decided that all scooters could park for free in any on-street parking space (metered or pay-and-display). So scooter riders should have plenty of parking options without taking up space on sidewalks.

The rules prohibiting motor scooters from parking on the sidewalk while at the same time allowing them to park on the street for free are not well-known, either to scooter drivers or to parking enforcement officers. It would probably be helpful to everyone to have some kind of public information campaign on the issue so that everyone knows what the rules are, followed by more active enforcement.

The situation is a little more complicated for electric-powered scooters (”e-bikes”) that also have vestigial pedals that could theoretically propel them. The province currently classifies these as “bicycles” and so, technically, they can park on the boulevard (the space between the walking part of the sidewalk and the curb), just like a bicycle.

However, it is illegal for them to park on the sidewalk walkway itself, that is, the space set aside for people to walk. They can be ticketed if they obstruct the walking path.

But, like scooters, they are also allowed to park in on-street parking spaces for free, so there should not be a need for them to park on the sidewalk. As they are bulky and heavy compared to bicycles, and so create a potential obstacle and hazard to pedestrians, the Pedestrian Committee yesterday asked to have city staff look into ways to keep parked e-bikes off the sidewalk.

(An interesting side note is that, in theory, it turns out that bicycles are also allowed to park for free in on-street parking spaces. It’s not practical to do so, of course, because there is nothing to lock them to and they are likely to be overlooked and knocked over by cars.  But there might be inventive ways for cyclists to make use of it).

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40 comments

  1. Interesting post. I honestly don’t really care if scooters are parked on the sidewalk like in the photo above – they’re not obstructing pedestrians or where a bike is or would be locked up. I’d think most people with scooters would want them ‘out of the way’ too so they aren’t knocked into or over.

  2. As a former Vespa owner, I used to park my Vespa on the sidewalk when I was working in the financial district. Because parking spots are limited in that area of Toronto, it was the only place I could park my scooter safely. I think that I speak for most Vespa owners in Toronto when I say that parking is at premium (availability and cost alike) in the downtown core.

    I have never received a ticket from parking enforcement or Toronto police where it concerned parking on the sidewalk. In fact, I was approached numerous times from either TPA or the police with questions about the bike itself (gas mileage, insurance costs, etc), including an offer from a police officer to purchase it on the spot.

    As a pedestrian, I don’t have a problem with scooters being parked on the sidewalk as long as it doesn’t obstruct the flow of foot traffic.

  3. I find it hard to believe that most Vespa owners are not aware of the parking rules regularing them. I bought a Vespa this year, and I remember quite vividly the sales guy pitching all the fabulous ways in which I would be saving money. Needless to say, free parking was one of them. He did also mentionned that although parking on sidewalks was technically illegal, it was usually tolerated. I would think that except for scooters purchased used, most salespeople use similar arguments.

    I assume that as the number of scooters in the city increases, the parking authority will come to realize that there are some nice tickets to be collected from illegally parked scooters, and people will adapt accordingly.

  4. Scooter owners often have an “I pollute less” belief, but they’re driving 2 Stroke engines, and they are dirty. Dirtier than 4 cylinder engines.

    http://wweek.com/editorial/3240/7867

    So, as long as we can agree that Scooter drivers aren’t doing the environment any favours, we can talk about their right to park on the sidewalk.

  5. When I visited Frankfurt in Germany, I noticed that a lot of things that go on the road in Canada go on the sidewalk in Germany. Bike lanes go on the sidewalk. Parking spots go on the sidewalk (i.e. elevated over the curb).

    I wonder what the advantages are of either practice.

  6. John L

    “You get up to 100 miles per gallon … A March 2005 study by the Environmental Protection Agency shows most scooters on the road pollute more than SUVs.”

    Pollute more per Liter of fuel consumed? Perhaps, but consume much less than the SUV does as a single-person commuter vehicle. I’d like to see numbers for the difference between driving any scooter and an SUV before making the conclusion that they’re not doing the environment any favours.

    There are no numbers in that editorial for the SUV that the antique scooters beat out in hydrocarbon numbers, so by how much are we talking? 8.4% CO2 for this SUV, 1.2%?

  7. Most gasoline powered scooter drivers get that they are a motorised vehicle; it’s the tools on the electric ones that don’t. No, you can’t use the Waterfront Trail to commute.

  8. John L,

    Most modern scooters (including those pictured above) use 4 stroke engines, running cleaner than most cars.

  9. as a cyclist who doesn’t own any motorized vehicles of any kind, i like seeing scooters parked beside (and not locked to) the bike racks on the adelaide side of first canadian place.

    however, the pollution point is valid:
    http://www.wheels.ca/printArticle/334875

  10. I referred to “modern versions” in my post because the modern ones (which are the ones you mostly see on the streets now) no longer use the super-polluting 2-stroke engines.

  11. “Only non-plated vehicles, like bikes or e-bikes, are allowed to park on the sidewalk near bicycle racks. Motorcycles and scooters are exempt from payment of parking fees at all on-street parking meters and pay-and-display machines during the times of operation (non-rush hour).” See http://www.wheels.ca/Motorcycles/article/332546 for more information.

  12. People powered machines only in bike lanes and trails.

  13. mkm; thanks, that’s a much better article for backing up John’s point.

  14. Got to love it that some still claim modern scooters use 2 stroke engines and are dirtier than SUVs. 95% of modern scooters use 4 stroke engines! Only the vintage the odd 50cc sport model use 2 stroke. Your argument about the environment is invalid and misplaced. This a comment section about parking rules and scooters. Yes it is illegal to park scooters on the sidewalk and most scooter riders now this and would be happy to park on the road if there were slightly better conditions to do so. The fact of the matter is that Toronto car drivers are the worst parkers in the world and hit scooters all the time because they believe they do not belong on the road or can’t see them. Downtown there are many streets were there is more sidewalk that road. Take Bay St and the roads around them that are usually vacant of pedestrians. Why not allow the odd scooter? It isn’t blocking anything. Oh and those clear rules about parking scooters also state that they are allowed to park with bicycle racks FYI.

  15. Thanks for the better link MKM — I think it addresses the non-2-stroke versions too, no? Still dirty engines.

  16. You guys are lucky. On my block in NYC there are least four full-sized (Harley-esque) motorcycles always parked on the sidewalk. Scooters would be a nice change.

    Interesting that this brings up discussion about that linear, narrow grey area of public space on the sidewalk often used for trash bags or recycling bins (on pickup days), post boxes, newspaper boxes, bus stops, bike rings, scooter parking, etc. Which uses should be allowed and which forbidden?

  17. The Toronto Motion/By-law was to allow scooters to park in the boulevard where bicycles generally park, as long as they aren’t disrupting pedestrian flow. I believe that this was intended for small scooters up to 50 cc (green licence plate only).

  18. I can’t stand scooters on the sidewalk. Scooters locked to bike rings? Oi vey, don’t get me started. E-bikes have created some grey area – often they are just as big as scooters – but for now I would be happy to see better enforcement of the parking by-laws that pertain to these vehicles. Even better, it would be great to see some parking places re-configured as spaces for locking multiple bikes and a scooter or two, but much of Toronto’s downtown on-street parking only exists in non-peak hours, which means the ring posts, etc., would be in the way.

  19. I like to see scooters encouraged, I’m happy to share my bike lane and parking spaces with them.
    More numbers mean more power to get more of those lanes and post & rings.
    I’d prefer to see cops crack down cars parking on the sidewalk and in bike lanes.

  20. Dylan, you wrote that “bicycles are also allowed to park for free in on-street parking spaces”. Where did you get that tidbit from?

    If a business owner were to set up a temporary bike parking facility (folding aluminum racks perhaps?) on the street in front of their shop, would that be allowed as well?

    Groups like ARC and Streets are for People have been parking bikes on the street for years, while paying the appropriate fees (first in the meters, now with pay-and-display). It would be nice to know that bikes could park on the street without paying.

  21. As someone who used to drive a scooter in Toronto, I frequently parked my bike on the boulevard. I did so in an spot that did not block the sidewalk. There were two reasons I did this: so I could lock it up and to avoid getting hit.

    Perhaps I was being paranoid but I was worried that my scooter would get stolen. It wouldn’t have taken much to pick it up and put it in the back of a truck.

    As for getting hit, I did park on the street quite a bit and in that time, my scooter was backed into quite a few times. It was not unusual to come out to find it laying on its side having been knocked over by some inconsiderate driver.

    I did appreciate that sidewalk parking was problematic and went out of my way to choose parking spots that would not impede pedestrians. It would be great if there were some purpose built (or zoned) spots on the street that provided access for scooters to lock as well as sheltering them from other vehicles.

  22. can’t help but mention that on my bike ride home tonight i passed a large, white pick-up truck labelled “city of toronto, bylaw enforcement” parked entirely on the sidewalk at chestnut and dundas, while the driver enjoyed a plate of asian food. grrr…

  23. On Annette St. at Jane, there’s a flower shop that has a motorcycle with sidecar parked on the sidewalk, with their logos etc. all over it. Same people who spoke out against bike lanes at public meetings block the sidewalks with motor vehicles. Not surprising.

    I like the idea of on-street bike parking, even if there are no racks. Makes me want to get kickstands for my bikes.

  24. I was wondering when and if by-laws would be enforced on scooters(and also motorcycles, which I often see on sidewalks).
    I think free parking on the street is a pretty fair deal.

  25. I think the point should be repeated that the on-street parking exception does not include No Stopping Zones at rush hour, and ignoring this is a great way to get your scooter towed away. With many no stopping zones now stretching from 7:00am to 10:00am in the morning and 3:30pm to 6:30pm at night, parking your Vespa on the street legally can still be hard to do if you’re working a full shift.

  26. Although I see no problem with parking smaller scooters on the boulevard portion of the sidewalk, I generally park mine on the street.
    This is a risky thing to do, however, as they are small and all too often hit by larger vehicles resulting in expensive repairs. This year alone I have known several fellow scooterists who have had thier vehicle damaged or even written off by inattentive drivers.
    I must take exception to the assertation that because on street parking is free, their are plenty of other options.
    just because we don’t pay for parking on street does not mean there are more spots available for us, and it is laughable to make such a statement. Because we cannot use pay and display parking lots (where do you suppose we would display a ticket?) we in fact have less options than a car or truck.
    responsible parking on the boulevard portion obstructs no one but jay-walkers… and hazzards? Ok, bubble boy.

  27. Those scooters are parked in the grey area,
    It’s not the side walk, It’s the boulevard.

    Paved over grass is called boulevard,
    I personally don’t see a problem here.

    The city paved over the grass to save money cutting it.

    Having lived in Paris, France,
    This is a very common sight.

    There will always be finger pointers,
    It’s a shame that people just don’t get it.

  28. The boulevard is a part of the sidewalk in Toronto. Its not a grey area where vehicles can drive on or park. Scooters can park for free on the street according to Toronto bylaws. If you have a drivers license your vehicle stays on the road. Its not as if we don’t have enough parking spaces already in the city….

  29. Actually it is exactly as if we don’t have enough parking spots here in Toronto, have you ever been here? Granted the “green P” parking lots are often under used, but motorcycles and scooters don’t have that option.
    And I belive it was the municipal government that created the distiction between sidewalk and boulevard.

  30. Stephen: I’m the publisher of this blog, so yes I’ve been here (for 35 years).

    I disagree that there’s not enough space. Scooter drivers shouldn’t be battling pedestrians for space, but with cars. If more people converted down from cars to scooters there’d be loads of parking. But right now there are too many single-occupant drivers in the city (1.2 is the average number of people in a car). Increase that average and the parking problems disappear. And so would the scooters from the sidewalk.

  31. I think the biggest problem is that, YES! Toronto does let scooters and motorcycles park for free at the on-street parking meters spots. BUT! The laws are enforced and the city allows parking at these spots for only a 3 hour limit and then can ticket after that “if they wish”.

    Most people that own scooters work for 8 hours a day so to avoid a parking ticket they park on the boulevard as the laws permit it for scooters and the city doesn’t specify a time limit for boulevard parking. But boulevard parking can be a grey area for many of T.O’s Parking Enforcement Officers as there seems to be far too many exceptions to the rules, ie; The boulevard maybe considered as private property.

    But scooterist has to watchout as it’s not legal to drive a motorized vehicle on a sidewalk so they should be walking their scooters to the boulevard to park.

    As for the comment by John L I don’t see what that has to do with the topic at hand.

  32. This is from Patrol Supervisor “B” Platoon Toronto Police Service Parking Enforcement

    The current policy is that the City of Toronto/Toronto Police Service Parking Unit Policy does allow for the parking of mopeds and scoooters on boulevards. Previously, we would issue a Parking Infraction Notice if the vehicle was not at/or locked to a bike rack. This is not the case any longer however. Scooters now, do not have to be locked to be exempted. Please keep in mind that this policy does not apply to Private Property areas. Individual property owners can request that these vehicles be tagged if they are on their property without authorization.
    Hope this helps.

  33. Yeah, that was kind of a snarky comment, appologies.
    But I still maintain that there is not enough street parking for the volume of vehicles we currently have. Last time I had to be in the city core on a weekday I spent 45 minutes searching for any spot within an 8 block radius, never did find one. ended up parking illegaly behind two other illegaly parked cars, because the $60 parking ticket would have been less expesive than missing my appointment.
    As a result of this lack of parking, myself and many others simply do not go downtown whenever it can be avoided… are we surprised that the economy in the 905 is so much healthier than the 416?

    But parking on the boulevard does not compete with pedestrian flow any more than telephone poles and newspaper boxes and sandwich boards and street signs do. People simply do not walk on that portion.
    Personally, I’d be happy enough if they allowed bikes to park in green P parking lots… even if they found a way to make us pay. I’m not against paying for parking on street either, it’s nice that it’s free, but I’m willing to pay my fair share.

  34. In any case this isn’t a very constructive solution by pointing fingers at the
    scooter population for parking on the “Boulevard”, Perhaps a bit more research
    into the scooter parking problem would have been more prudent.

    Like:

    “Wow an SUV did that to your scooter”
    “Someone pushed over your scooter because you were parked in a parking spot”
    “Someone keyed your scooter”
    “Someone moved your scooter so that they could park in your spot”
    “Crap, My insurance is going to go up because someone trashed my scooter”

    The list goes on…and probably will after this.

  35. In the city of London England they have Motorcycle and Scooter parking on evey other block it maybe up to 1 to 2 or more bays of street parking and I wish we had it here in Toronto.

    Riding a scooter downtown when and if ever you can find street parking you won’t like to compete with large vehicles that does not see a small innocent scooter parked behind them. When they back-up to get out of a parking space they hit and the scooter owners insurance goes up.

    This so called “Competing with pedesteians” is so much safer. When parking a scooter on the boulevard beside a newspaper box is totally out of the pedesteians way, how are we competing?

  36. Funny to have the discussion on this post flare up again – I guess it got reposted on a scooter-rider site or something.

    I’m not sure if the post from parking enforcement is genuine, but if so it’s at odds with what the Police rep said at the Pedestrian Committee meeting. Possible the confusion between e-bikes and motor scooters (they look pretty similar) is leading to all scooters being tolerated – all the more reason for the clarity the pedestrian committee asked for.

    Scooters are fairly bulky, much more so than bikes, and many Toronto sidewalk/boulevards are pretty narrow. There are lots of boulevard areas in Toronto where a parked scooter will intrude into the walking zone in a way a parked bike wouldn’t.

    But it’s true there are some areas where boulevards are wide enough for a scooter to park without interfering with the walkway. Perhaps the city can explore marking designated scooter parking spots in these locations.

    As for Green Ps – there’s no reason a scooter can’t pay for parking in them like any other motor vehicle. But since they are smaller and I expect you can fit more than one into a parking spot, it might be a good idea for Green P parking lots to charge a deeply discounted rate for scooter parking.

    The city should definitely work on ways to accommodate scooters – as it did by allowing free on-street parking – in ways that don’t make things worse for pedestrians and cyclists.

  37. “I’m not sure if the post from parking enforcement is genuine, but if so it’s at odds with what the Police rep said at the Pedestrian Committee meeting”

    Yes, the letter is genuine… a police “rep” doesn’t necessarily know all the rules & regulations the actual police are enforcing.

  38. The Police rep was Sgt. Tim Burrows of Toronto Police Services and he had researched the laws thoroughly and in detail.

  39. Was this at the meeting where; I quote above “the Pedestrians Committee yesterday asked to have city staff look into ways to keep parked e-bikes off the sidewalk.”
    Did Sgt. Tim Burrows of Toronto Police Services talk about the laws of sidewalk parking only at this meeting or did he go into the use boulevards for parking scooters, mopeds or e-bikes?

    Becouse Patrol Supervisor “B” Platoon Toronto Police Service Parking Enforcement said that Toronto allows parking of scooters, mopeds and e-bikes on boulevards and I doubt that Magiq would have made that up given his position.

    Dylan, I’m confused? in your photo above the scooters are clearly parked on the boulevard with the bikes not the sidewalk as the man walking along the sidewalk has plenty of room to walk by. I for one know that sidewalk and I’d say that is about 5′ to the wall with a good 4′ of boulevard from the street.

    How much room does a pedestrian need?

  40. I really dont get these people that, with so much space to park (as you can see in the picture behind) still are able to pretend that because they only have two wheels, they have the same rights as a normal bycicle to be parked on the sidewalk. It gets on my nerves when cars do it while waiting for someone that went to buy some groceries. The funny thing is once you are trying to squeeze to get pass drivers still have the nerve to look at what you are doing, God forbid you will damage its mirror. Is just taking the mickey with our community. If they can’t respects small things such as the sidewalk, I dont want to imagine our future when the World would need to join up to help the environemt.Cheers for the posts Dylan, will recommend it.