Attn. Scooter/Motorcycle Riders: The Philadelphia Parking Authority Now Screwing With You, Too
Hey Vespa/Harley enthusiast! Wondering how in the hell you just got a $76 ticket for parking your ride the same way you always do? That’s because your friends and ours, The Motherfucking Goddamned Philadelphia Dickbag Parking Authority, are now ticketing motorcycles and scooters which are parked in the same way they have been for years: On sidewalks, against buildings. Citing the practice as “dangerous” — as you know, thousands of Philadelphians are killed each year by falling Vespas — the PPA is rolling out special parking all over the city (which eats up valuable parking space for, you know, cars) and is now actively ticketing motorcycles and scooters who would be in violation of this sudden and completely unpublicized change. There is no note of any of this on the PPA’s website currently, and that’s only part of what is bullshit about this. Here’s more:
- In these new parking spaces, there is currently nowhere to actually lock your bike up. Awesome.
- Even tho the parking space needed to park a scooter or motorcycle is a fraction of what a car takes up, the price is still the same.
- Best yet, in the spaces where there are the new parking spots, there’s no way to pay for them, so you’re screwed either way.
And again, there is no public notice of this. In fact, everything we know about this, we found on this thread on the PhiladelphiaSpeaks forum. In the meantime, those $76 tickets? They’re the same ones you’d get if you were just some asshole who parked his car on the pavement. You know, because it’s the same thing, really.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
They must have gotten an payday orgasm checking out all the scooters parked at 20th & Market Street along the fence. The last thing I want is a scooter taking up a perfectly good parking space.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I had heard the cost was going up. It has always been illegal to park a motorcycle on the sidewalk or against a building (anything over 50cc). I fought this a couple of times down at 9th and Filbert. The thing is most of the ticket officers won’t give you a ticket. I’ve spoken to them several times and they just let it go. Each time I got a ticket for it, it was not from the PPA but from the police. It’s a chance you take. What bothers me is that I work near Billy G’s restaurant and you can go by there any time during the day and see at least on police car parked on the sidewalk, even if the lot is not full. Naturally they will never get a ticket for it.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
It would be delightful to do a photo blog of Philly cops and PPA breaking the laws they’re supposed to enforce. Everyone sees it, probably every day – but where is there a good one-stop source?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Don’t know who I care for less: the PPA, scooter riders or dicks with their loud-ass motorcycles…
I love my bicycle though.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
This has been in the works for some time now. In fact the PPA was holding off for awhile on ticketing folks, even though the new laws have been in effect for at least a month and half (maybe more). There’s at least one group organizing to fight this, one of the Vespa or Scooter clubs here in Philly. Sorry I don’t have more details. What’s interesting is that from a purely economic standpoint, the city would be far better off doing anything they could to encourage people to ride motorcycle and scooter riding. The wear and tear from smaller two wheeled vehicles is significantly less than that created by cars. It’s even more of an impact when you also consider the reduction in traffic congestion and reduction in emissions from scooters and motorcycles compared to cars and trucks. This really is bad legislation. I’m all for safety, but this isn’t the solution.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
@ Friendly:
I will gladly donate money towards you domain/server costs. That’s an amazing idea (provided the vehicle numbers are included so that blame may be properly assigned).
October 27th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I wish I had the time. I wanted to release the idea though, in case someone out there wants to run with it!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I ride a motorcycle (its not very loud) and a bicycle. I’m curious what the Philly Police think about this new situation. They are very vocal motorcycle enthusiasts and effective lobbyists.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
i ride a very loud bike, and i’m unrepentant. drivers do not always see me in their blind spots, but they will hear me. i equate the loud pipes to having blinking head and tail lights on my bicycle – anything that increases my visibility/lets oblivious motorists know i’m on the road with them is a good thing
October 27th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
@friendlynerd – i know someone who owns a domain perfect for that site. will pass it to @tips when it’s ready for public consumption.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
and i’ll gladly take pics of police/ppa/city agency vehicles parked illegally, in bus zones, etc and send to such a site
October 27th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
How dare those monsters at the PPA do their jobs and enforce the parking regulations that specifically forbid parking motorcycles on the sidewalk.
Look, the police and parking authority may have a lot of assholes in their ranks, but how about we all agree that when we get a speeding/parking ticket we don’t bitch about the cops/PPA being unfair and targeting us, but just take our lumps and pay. You take a risk when you speed or park illegally, and you have no right to be all indignant/self-righteous when you get caught for it, even if it’s for something that they didn’t enforce before or that lots of other people are getting away with it. That makes them lucky and you unlucky, but you’re the one that got caught, so deal with it.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
As far as I remember it’s always been illegal to park your motorcycle on the sidewalk. People have gotten away with it because while the PPA are a bunch of dicks, they’re also about as diligent as a SEPTA employee.
Illegal parking is illegal parking, I don’t see how the fine should be lowered because the vehicle involved in the crime is smaller. That said, legitimate parking should be pro-rated for bikes/scooters. One car space = four bike spaces.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I’ve been getting parking tickets on my scooter for five years. SJDude is right, it’s almost always cops that do it, not PPA. Every single time I’ve ever taken one to fight it, they’ve dismissed it. It’s mostly a hassle and a waste of time for everyone.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
security is a lot of the issue…. those new spots provide no way to lock a motorcycle/scooter except to make it harder to roll away. a few years ago my friend had his $10,000+ 955cc motorcycle lifted up and dragged into a van by two guys in broad daylight on Drexel’s campus. If he had locked it to something (like those disappearing parking meters), it would have been safer.
way to discourage scooters and motorcycles for commuting. idiots.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
I have a motorcyle(summer cruises)
I have a car(rain/family visits in the country)
I have a bicycle too…(everyday if it’s not shite weather)
Point is: I heep my bike next to my house, against the wall on the sidewalk. It’s been there the last 3 years (the motorcycle). PPA has no right to touch anything I own. Registered/insured/payedfor/homeOwner)
Send me the bill registered mail assholes!
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
1) I do take my chances when I park on the sidewalk because the law is the law and I can’t really complain about the PPA doing what they are supposed to do.
2) @A Feculent Rainbow, bicycle are motor vehicles and legally need to be parked in on-street parking spaces or wheeled to proper bicycle parking racks. How are motorcycles and scooters different? they are all motor vehicles in the eyes of both the PPA and PA law.
3) we should all expect that the PPA and the cops are going to do whatever they can to raise income in these hard times. I’m sure part of this is from them looking at ways to increase revenue and they just decided to quit being nice and start collecting money.
4) we need to make this a big enough issue for the city that they do something about it. there are plenty of scooters and a few motorcycles throughout the city and these people should be backed by bicyclists who also benefit by the increased awareness for alternative transportation. I bike and have a motorcycle and scoot sometimes too and there is a pervasive unawareness and lack of caring from the general population, meaning the elected officials have no reason to care about it.