Why should parking garages cater to Motorcycles/Scooters?
I don't care what they try to get us to believe about Down Town parking, those of us who have to find a parking space during an event or during the day know the truth.
It's expensive and there is not enough of it.
Creating Motorcycle parking - especially since there are so many more people riding - to me seems like the next step in making the down town work for us.
not to mention it really ought to expand their profits a bit. Cutting spaces into two motorcycle spaces, and using some of the "unusable" space for motorcycles should open up more parking for them, rather than less.
As it is, each motorcycle is using a full cars worth of space, and usually paying less for it. Not exactly a winning prospect for them on space or profitability.
I agree with that, I hate seeing 2 bikes taking up 2 spots when they could of shared just 1 spot.
Scooby Doo
Parking garages are in the business to make money, not make things more convenient for us or help with congestion.
Here in Portland (Maine) the garage I use seems to have no set policy. Mostly they don't want to park bikes, but three striped spaces have appeared near the entrance. The attendant usually parks his bike there, but I have seen all the spaces occupied, so some bikes are parking there.
In San Francisco, where I used to live, the garage right at the Chinatown gate took some car spots to put in a dedicated bike area, right next to the attendant's booth, enclosed by metal railings so that no one could back over the bikes. I'd guess that it parked maybe 2 dozen bikes, and the rate was lower, maybe half the car price. It was really handy, but often full, which proves how many people would use (and pay) for it.
SF was great for street parking. A lot of the "unusable" spots downtown were bike only, divided up into narrow slots (each with a meter), and they were everywhere.
Hey, I'm with you...make the point!
I live on an island off the coast of Maine, and it used to cost only slightly less than a car to bring a bike over on the ferry. It has recently gone down, so it's only about half the price of a car now. At least some improvement...but I doubt if it was my endless messages in the suggestion box.
Recently a buddy of mine and I took our bikes on the Cape May - Lewes Ferry (Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE). Our two bikes parked together took up HALF the space of one car. However, the round trip ticket was $50 for one bike when a car would have been $59. The slight discount for a bike was nice, but not enough in my opinion considering the space we saved.
Wow I didn't realise how lucky we are here in Auckland, New Zealand. We can park bikes for free in all city-run parking garages. There are designated bike parking spaces and the sign at the entrance of the building says "bikes do not take a ticket" and you just ride around the barrier to go in.
Also if we want to park on the street we do not have to pay to park in a metered parking space, on condition we park in a manner that allows another bike to share the space.
The only drawback is we're in the southern hemisphere so we have to park upside down. You soon get used to it.
For what it's worth, several of us used to commute in to Hartford from all over Connecticut. Travelers Insurance has set aside a large number of multiple-bike parking spaces in one of their garages, right on the street level for easy access. They encouraged employees to ride to work for all the reasons we understand. Others of us parked in the garage attached to the "Gold Building". As it turns out, the manager of the garage (back in 2004-2006 timeframe) was a rider and they went to the point of even changing the electronics in the parking card reader so it was more senesitive and would always detect bikes. I don't know if things are still the same, but at one time Hartford was a very bike-friendly place (at least 8 months out of the year). Steve.
I work for a state agency in downtown Richmond, VA. Parking spaces on my work place's deck are all taken and those spaces are assigned by seniority. Someone literally has to die for a new person to get a parking spot. Thankfully, the agency has set aside an area for motorcycle, scooter and bicycle parking only - first come, first served. There are only two regular bicycle riders and yours truly(scooter)who use this space. Two other people ride motorcycles when the weather is nice. That means I can count on a parking space out of the weather and monitored by security cameras every day!
I'd love chime in with the rest of you about how great parking is, and that town's are getting more friendly towards motorcyclists....but Boston is not that place. Here they let scooters park on the sidewalks for free, but a motorcycle has to use up a whole metered spot by itself. And don't even think of parking with your back tire against the curb, like they teach in the safety courses. Here they'll ticket you for that (I have been, twice). You're expected to park parallel to the curb, and no more than 12" away from it. Imagine how many bikes are getting hit from people thinking they are backing into an empty space. Then you can also forget the garages. Most of the downtown garages have signs that state motorcycles are not even allowed in the garage, even if you wanted to shell out the same $40 a car does. I suppose it's cheaper than the $45 ticket if your meter runs out.
We have quite a few motorycle-only parking spots in our downtown area. This is a pretty small city, so it kind of surprises me. There are a ton of bicycles here, and the city really caters to them, too. Bike racks everywhere you look and bike lanes on every street.
The parking ramp at Old Dominion University has marked off an odd shaped space which accommodates 6-10 bikes. But of course there they charge by permit. I'm not sure if they give a discount for 2 wheels, but every time I've gone there it's been full or close to.
Otherwise there doesn't seem to be much sympathetic treatment of bikes vs. cars around here. I've used the ramp in Portsmouth (which charges by time). It has a small sign on the gate that says 'no motorcycles' but the tenders have never turned me away.
The Boston policy seems just bizarre.
I don't know why, but I am staying in one of Dubai Hotels & I am used to walk to work daily.
This saves me from the traffic, car expenses & helps me to maintain good health & keep in a good shape.
I ride my scooter all over town as long as its warm enough even in the winter some times i got hooked while on vacation renting one and buying gas like twice since it was so efficient. My auto insurance covers it and i only use the car when i need to drive pretty far or if its raining out.
exactly. I hate that feeling of being teased that I'm about to find a spot, only to drive up on it to see that a motorcycle or ped is tucked in there. If they their own marked spaces, clearly marked, then I would feel better. And it would be better spatially and make more room.
Recently a buddy of mine and I took our bikes on the Cape May - Lewes Ferry (Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE). Our two bikes parked together took up HALF the space of one car. However, the round trip ticket was $50 for one bike when a car would have been $59. The slight discount for a bike was nice, but not enough in my opinion considering the space we saved.
Exactly, it's more profitable to have more bike parking. Still not much has changed in my area, since this thread began.
Steve @ Beat Maker
In my opinion motorcycles and scooters are equal to cars if the owners consider them this way. There are people who love motorcycles over cars and this is why I believe a garage should satisfy the owner need. This is something you will always see at fox car rental.
It only means that if you have many vehicles, you also need a bigger garage. But if you have a lot of cars and motorcycles inside your home you also need the best garage door openers.
Hey I run a small bike and car rental in Iasi - http://www.inchirieri.net/auto-masini/iasi.html in Romania - believe me in a country where almost everyone has a car, some of us more than one, it is a nightmare to find a parking spot, even in Iasi not talking about Bucharest where you have reserved parking only for the bentley's and aston martins - simple BMW won't do. I myself prefer a bike cause it gets me through the traffic but I always try to park some place safe - for the very simple reason that when you get back the bike might not be there anymore :)) So yes I think at least for my country the garages could be a good alternative.
Hey I run a small bike and car rental in Iasi in Romania - you can check it out http://www.inchirieri.net/auto-masini/iasi.html and believe me in a country where almost everyone has a car and more than one finding a parking spot even in Iasi, not talking about Bucharest, that is a challenge. There are some reserved parking spots in the city centre but that is just for the bentley and aston martin owners :)) and I drive a bike - it is easy to get around heavy traffic but forget the parking. If you are lucky enough to find a spot you can be sure the bike won't be there when you get back as someone will probably take it for a ride :)) so yeah I think at least for Romania the garages are more than a viable solution.
The parking garages here do not allow any motorcycles to park, even paying full price for a car. They have tons of space that is not used by cars, not in the fire lane and it seem ridiculous that they do not allow free or even paid parking for motorcycles.
I think gas will need to be $5 a gallon before people really start to change their habits and demand garage owners and cities make the change.
When i try to parking my car in Bucharest, Baneasa Airport and Otopeni Airport i see an amazing price 8 Euro/hour. What shall i do ? I choose to take the bus till airport !
By inchirieri auto Bucuresti si inchirieri masini in Romania.
Many don't know that the specialized parking area for motorcycles and scooters not only leaves more space for the automobiles but also caters to the riders needs by providing a well-lit,convenient and secure location in which they may confidently leave their vehicle. Thanks for the insight.
In my opinion if the whole idea is for the owner of the garage to make money, & the purpose of a garage is to make less conjestion for parking. I'd think by adding spots for bikes or scooters would make more space for people to park meaning a bit less conjestion & more money for the garage owner.