Downtown Parking Enforcement / Illegal Stopping

[Admiral Beez]

Question.... I left Union Stn around 6:40pm last night, riding up Bay St. from Front. There were tons of taxis parked in the HOV lane. I believe that's permitted at 7pm, but what's with the 20 mins or more grace period?

Taxis and cyclists (like me) that wanted to travel up Bay had to merge into the centre lane traffic.

 

[DSC]

Question.... I left Union Stn around 6:40pm last night, riding up Bay St. from Front. There were tons of taxis parked in the HOV lane. I believe that's permitted at 7pm, but what's with the 20 mins or more grace period?

Taxis and cyclists (like me) that wanted to travel up Bay had to merge into the centre lane traffic.

There is no official grace period and the traffic wardens certainly ticket cars if they park on the 'clearways" even a minute after 4pm. The cabs were there illegally and you could/should 'Twitter them in".

 

[UserNameToronto]

Thanks. So, how would you improve this tweet? Who should I follow?

The tweet looks good to me.

If you add a ".", "Hey", or anything that's not an "@" to the beginning, it will be visible to other s in your timeline. If you start a tweet with an "@" it is sent directly to the person you're tweeting at.

As for who to follow...it depends what you would like to do: set up a one-note parking compliant account, or use it to keep up on news, events, advocacy, etc.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The tweet looks good to me.

If you add a ".", "Hey", or anything that's not an "@" to the beginning, it will be visible to other s in your timeline. If you start a tweet with an "@" it is sent directly to the person you're tweeting at.

As for who to follow...it depends what you would like to do: set up a one-note parking compliant account, or use it to keep up on news, events, advocacy, etc.

Thanks. I've made those changes, sending it directly to the two TPS cycle cops popular on twitter.

I could do this every day, https://twitter.com/AdmiralBeez/status/931164089887358978

This Timmies on Richmond needs a double line painted on the pavement or something. Or heck, just post a cycle-equipped TPS parking officer around the corner on Sherbourne and you're guaranteed a high ROI.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Start posting with it. Tag others who will share it and post too. Encourage cycling groups to use it. There is a new Facebook page that is posting these photos but the name escapes me for the moment.

Check out my latest tweet at https://twitter.com/AdmiralBeez

Still seeing cars stopping at the Timmies on Richmond, blocking the whole lane. BUT, I was very pleased to see a TPE car ticketing a car in this location last week. Maybe my tweets are helping?

 

[pstogios]

Question.... I left Union Stn around 6:40pm last night, riding up Bay St. from Front. There were tons of taxis parked in the HOV lane. I believe that's permitted at 7pm, but what's with the 20 mins or more grace period?

Taxis and cyclists (like me) that wanted to travel up Bay had to merge into the centre lane traffic.

Easy answer: taxis don't give a s**t about the rules.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Easy answer: taxis don't give a s**t about the rules.

I'm done with taxis with their stinky, worn out cars and rude or incoherent drivers. If I can't Bikeshare somewhere I use Uber.

 

[pstogios]

I'm done with taxis with their stinky, worn out cars and rude or incoherent drivers. If I can't Bikeshare somewhere I use Uber.

On top of those things (which also pushed me into the welcoming arms of Uber and Lyft), we have to deal with their erratic, unpredictable and sometimes dangerous driving habits.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I'm just going to put this out there as a personal observation: Über drivers quickly became as self-involved in their driving habits as taxi drivers have always been. I drive daily for work and have no problem saying that I wish I could go around plowing both sets of drivers off the roads in the interest of general driver safety.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I'm just going to put this out there as a personal observation: Über drivers quickly became as self-involved in their driving habits as taxi drivers have always been. I drive daily for work and have no problem saying that I wish I could go around plowing both sets of drivers off the roads in the interest of general driver safety.

When I ride down Bay from Richmond I often get caught behind Uber drivers stopping in the taxi lane to disgorge their fares. That's a double violation, driving in the taxi lane and stopping therein.

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

Some of the blame could go towards the passengers who allow taxis to stop wherever to drop them off or pick them up.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Some of the blame could go towards the passengers who allow taxis to stop wherever to drop them off or pick them up.

They can ask the taxi to stop wherever they'd like, but the driver can refuse. If I ask a taxi driver to let me out in the middle of an intersection I'd hope he'd tell me he'll instead let me out at the next legal stopping place.

 

[Transportfan]

Some of the blame could go towards the passengers who allow taxis to stop wherever to drop them off or pick them up.

Passengers need to get off somewhere. And keeping with the thread subject, couriers and repair guys need to park to make deliveries or unload equipment. The car-hating cyclist crowd needs to realize that.

Naming and shaming? Get serious! The lack of dissenting voices on this site is astounding.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I think it's a reaction to certain people's state of self-absorbed and self-important behaviour. The bell end blocking a lane to pick someone up thereby slowing down countless people because they (and only they and their mum) think they're special, for example.

 

[BurlOak]

Passengers need to get off somewhere. And keeping with the thread subject, couriers and repair guys need to park to make deliveries or unload equipment. The car-hating cyclist crowd needs to realize that.

Naming and shaming? Get serious! The lack of dissenting voices on this site is astounding.

My guess is if there is a "no stopping" sign, then a taxi (or any other vehicle) can't stop to pick up or drop off a passenger.
A courier should have a runner to make the final delivery. That way they are standing, and not parking, allowing them to pull over as long as there is not a "no stopping" or "no standing" sign.
Once you leave your vehicle, you are parking, which is not allowed if any of "no stopping", "no standing" or "no parking" signs are present.

I would assume that in the absence of these signs, any motorist would be allowed to stop or stand or park immediately adjacent to the curb, regardless of whether there is a bike lane or not.