![\"\"](\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/09\/vespa1.jpg\")
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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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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)<\/em>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The situation is a little more complicated for electric-powered scooters (\u00e2\u20ac\u009de-bikes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) that also have vestigial pedals that could theoretically propel them. The province currently classifies these as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bicycles\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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.<\/p>\n