Like a true nature's child, not
Portland's smart parking meters aren't so smart if you're on a motorcycle. People just steal your sticker, and you wind up getting a ticket, even if you fed the solar-powered beast and got it to work properly.
The solution? The city's going to sell monthly permits to motorcyclists and moped riders. For 40 bucks a month, they can park at any meter in town, but only for the posted time limit. For $10 less, there's a monthly motorcycle permit at the SmartPark garages. Or if none of that works, the city has this comical suggestion:
The City recommends that motorcyclists not interested in this monthly permit try the following other options to secure their parking receipt and proof of payment: pay the SmartMeter fee and secure the parking receipt on or near the motorcycle seat, write down the expiration time after paying for parking, and take a photo of the receipt with a cell phone. If a motorcyclist is interested in a more secure method to display their parking receipt, locking permit and receipt holders are available commercially.Can you see the Harley riders standing there with their little note pads and pens, writing down their expiration times, and then whipping out their cell phones to take photos of the receipt stuck to their bike seat? Sure.
| Posted at 8:46 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (16)
Why would you need to go through all this rigamarole? Tear off the receipt part (it's perforated) and retain it. I always do that even though I am parking a closed car.
Posted by Kai Jones | August 25, 2010 9:44 AM
Sure cure is to stay out of downtown Portland.
Posted by Abe | August 25, 2010 9:51 AM
I agree with Abe... simply boycotting downtown works best for me!
Posted by Jim | August 25, 2010 9:54 AM
....and how much are they paying for advertisement in order to get more people to go downtown?
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/downtown_portland_drivers_fuel.html
Posted by phil | August 25, 2010 9:59 AM
So they can really park a motorcycle in a garage for $30/mo? But its $180 for a car?
Posted by Jon | August 25, 2010 10:26 AM
Why not just have a few hoops attached to the parking meters so the bikers can jump through those too?
The point is you'll get a ticket and then have to spend hours trying to get it annulled with your little cellphone picture and Harley Novelette.
After my disastrous injustice at a meter by the Rose Garden where the information on the meter was wrong, I took a camera and got it all on video.
I was hoping the clerk would have the power to override the ticket since it was so friggin' obvious what had happened, but she told me I would have to spend a couple of hours in traffic court. So I decided to pay.
I also decided to bring it up every now and then from now 'til eternity.
By the way, I was only there for a fundraiser for the Portland Schools Foundation so while I was helping the kids, the city was hurting me.
And I think we all know the children are our future.
Posted by Bill McDonald | August 25, 2010 10:47 AM
Sell quarter-space permits, third-space permits, and half-space permits. Otherwise let cars and bicycles get a space permit too.
Posted by pdxnag | August 25, 2010 10:47 AM
That's 'cause 4 motor bikes fit in one car space.
Posted by portland native | August 25, 2010 10:47 AM
I just ride my Harley downtown to set off car alarms, I never park or pose.
Posted by John Benton | August 25, 2010 11:52 AM
There is no tear-off receipt anymore on most meters, and they are being totally eliminated as we speak. In fact, there's not even any adhesive on the new ones, because the coddled cagers complained that it left little unseemly marks on their perty windows. Boo, hoo, hoo...
Posted by Second-Class Vehicle Owner | August 25, 2010 11:53 AM
If it's not a bicycle or mass transit, the city doesn't want the vehicle coming downtown.
Posted by ds | August 25, 2010 12:03 PM
In fact, there's not even any adhesive on the new ones, because the coddled cagers complained that it left little unseemly marks on their perty windows.
Oh, I bet the real reason is because people leave there leftover time for others, which is illegal. So the city is changing them to make it harder to do that.
Posted by Jon | August 25, 2010 12:18 PM
oops, "their" leftover time...
Posted by Jon | August 25, 2010 12:20 PM
ds is absolutely right. A motorcycle, moped, scooter, what have you, is still considered a single occupancy vehicle.
Posted by Jim | August 25, 2010 12:24 PM
The city has a number of motorcycle/scooter-only parking spaces scattered throughout the city that seems to convey a motorcycle-friendly city for parking. To the casual observer (such as myself) they appear to be free. Makes sense, right? Often the spaces are left-over curb space where a full parking spot wouldn't fit, so just make it an MC spot. The thing is they aren't free, and not even discounted from a normal parking spot. You pay full price for less space for the same amount of time. That's not even the worst of it; every bike must be paid for even if you're able to cram a few into one parking spot, MC-only or not. So why not buy yourself a little more space and just park in the center of a normal parking space?
This and the city's "gotcha" policy for meter receipts and parking fines have convinced me that it is rather hostile to motorcyclists. A few friends of mine have been in contact with the city parking division for the last few months to resolve the meter receipt problem and have been given conflicting advice for proving payment and avoiding parking fines with one city representative basically saying they could provide no guarantee that a paying motorcyclist could avoid being ticketed.
Posted by Ryan | August 25, 2010 4:28 PM
Well gee, time for bicylists to pay up since they use the streets too. As far as the leaving of unused time on the pay stations, why not? If you've got 30 mins. left and someone needs 15 mins. why should the city care if you gift your unused time. Krice.
Posted by LucsAdvo | August 25, 2010 7:12 PM