Parking World

Snow Job

Unhappy Montreal residents were cited with CAD$52 tickets for parking too far away from the curb in a recent snow storm. Drivers are saying they couldn't get any closer because of the snow. New parking bans during snow storms are adding confusion as well.

Ironically, the first line in the "Parking and Signage" section of "Operation Snow Removal" on the official city portal of the Ville de Montreal says, "The city wants to make your life easier!"

According to the portal, the City makes 5,700 free off-street parking spaces available during snow removal operations, from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. But that is obviously not solving the problem.

The Ville de Montreal website says: Did you know? 25,000 cars are towed away every year during snow clearing operations. I think that number speaks for itself. That is a lot of cars. If that many people are doing it wrong every year, maybe there is a problem with the way the policy is being communicated to the public?

 

Pete Goldin

Just Not British

We don’t have guns, they are not allowed. If you’re farmer or a hunter, you might just get a license for a shotgun or a single shot rifle but hand-guns or assault rifles, no, never, not going to happen. We do have people shot, mostly with illegal guns and very, very occasionally by a legal gun holder who’s gone nuts but you can be pretty certain that here in England’s green and pleasant land you won’t be shot at.

That’s probably what PC David Kennedy thought when he went shopping with his family. As he parked on the street outside Neil Warelow’s home he must have been very surprised therefore when Mr. Warelow started shooting at his car.

Mr. Warelow, in what must have been one of the most unlikely explanations ever offered to the Court, admitted that he did shoot at the car but that “I didn’t intend to harm anybody or cause damage to the car”. PC Kennedy was not convinced and after taking his family to safety returned to arrest Mr. Warelow. Mr. Warelow has yet to be sentenced but for shooting at a Policeman, I wouldn’t book that summer holiday Neil, you might just not be able to go.

 

Peter Guest

What Comes First - the Parking Space or the Car?

Both Beijing and Bangalore are considering implementing measures that require drivers to secure a parking space before they are allowed to purchase a car. This is not a new concept - they have been doing it in Tokyo for a while.

I should mention that in Bangalore this initiative is being driven by the Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management, so I can't say how the government feels about it. But Beijing is allegedly already onboard.

On one side of the coin, it makes sense that anyone with a vehicle should be responsible to have a place to park it. But it seems that both cities are using this a method to fight congestion. Even if the car owner has a place to park the vehicle at night, is that really when all the congestion is happening? What about when the drivers are out and about, driving around the city doing whatever it is they do? This is when the congestion actually happens, when they are double and triple parked outside a store or some other place of business.

Congestion must be dealt with, and parking is part of the problem, but I don't think making sure there is a space at home is the real answer.

 

Pete Goldin

Around the Block - Parking Links Roundup

Paul Barter over at the Reinventing Parking blog lists a number of articles and links about parking across the planet. He even picks up Parking World editor Pete Goldin in one link. Check it out here.

I particularly like his comment on how people in Adelaide are outraged OUTRAGED that the local mall is going to start charging for parking (first three hours free.) He muses that its interesting how people get so exercised about paid parking in auto centric suburbs.

 

JVH

A Car Park for 10,000 Bicycles

Where is it?  The Netherlands, of Course. 

At the Groningen rail station in the Netherlands there are enough parking spaces for 10,000 bikes even though the population is only 188,000. Bikes are stacked on top of each other and, as you'll see, there's still barely enough room. We can dream.

Watch the Video -- You learn a lot about bike parking and the strength of Dutch Seniors.

 

 
 

There's another more modern bicycle garage nearby, with another 4000 spaces.  Amazing technology.

 

JVH

If You Are in a Hole – Keep Digging!

I wrote recently about The London Borough of Richmond’s honest attempt to influence car choices and car use by charging for parking according to the emissions levels output by a vehicle. A good idea perhaps but, at the level of differential that Richmond was setting between the most and least polluting vehicles it seemed to me unlikely to have any measurable impact. After the last election the incoming Councillors agreed and dropped the scheme, some would say too quickly but they were elected to make decisions and that’s what they did.

It seems that news of this pioneering scheme and its demise didn’t reach as far as Scotland because, from 29 November Edinburgh is introducing, guess what, a system of residents’ permits with charges based on engine emissions. Just like Richmond the charge differentials between the highest and lowest are around a pound a day.

Although the Scots have (in my experience) an ill deserved reputation for being tight-fisted, I cannot see anyone trading down from the Range Rover to the Prius so they can afford an extra espresso each day. Why are they doing this? It seemed that faced with logic and evidence that says this won’t work, the Councillors have made the classic politician’s mistake that their “judgement” is more reliable. They certainly aren’t doing it to make money, since they will lose over £380,000 in permit revenue. Honestly guys, if you want to do what you say you are trying to do, you need to put a couple of noughts on the permit price.

 

Peter Guest