Using motorcycle car parks in Auckland

[p.dath]

Don't know about you, but when I take the bike somewhere I tend to park the bike at the closest spot to the location I'm visiting (at the front door if I can get away with it).

I was talking to someone a while ago, and they told me it costs the council $1,000 for every "car" park they convert to a "motorcycle" park. The bulk of this cost is the resource consent process (yep, you have to submit a resource consent application to change the nature of what is going to be parked in that same spot - go figure).

As I rode past a motorcycle park today I decided to turn around and use it. It was only a short extra walk.
I figure that if more people start using the motorcycle parks that will encourage the council to convert more "car" parks. It would be great eventually if every street in Auckland that has marked "car" parks has at least one marked motorcycle park.

So, going to join me?

[Dare]

I park in the motorcycle park at uni on a daily basis, unless I arrive late and the park is full to overflowing. Then I park at the front door :laugh:

Seriously though it gets so full that people get tickets for parking *just* outside the spaces... Which is dumb if you ask me. This is the one behind brooklyn bar on q st.

[Exodus]

Wellington has a policy that encourages bikes in the city (or any form of transport that isn't a car). They only pay attention to bikes on the footpath if they block foot traffic, otherwise they are largely ignored.

From what I've seen bikes are normally parked on the footpath because the bike parks are full (or over-full in some cases). Other's may disagree, but I'd say Wellington has a fair few bike parks dotted over the city too.

I park my bike at work, but on the weekends I try and use the marked bike parks. Wouldn't it be easier to write to council asking for more bike parking rather than assume they'll notice they don't have enough?

Just a thought.

[Phurrball]

Auckland City Council have a periodic dialogue with 'stakeholder' groups of 2 wheeled interests. (Scoter clubs, bike clubs, BRONZ, University Bike Club etc)

If you have specific issues with parking, or roading let one of these groups know, and it'll be raised with ACC parking 'services'.

Squiggles and myself from the University bike club, Ixion from BRONZ are a few that are on KB who can pass issues on to the authorities.

I was thinking of starting a sticky thread in the University bike club forum as a convenient way to record issues - good idea?

Of course, you're always free to get in their ear yourself...

[bogan]

just got done for parking where a motorcycle park used to be (i always park in marked motorcycle parks unless theres none withine a good 200m) the sign was still up, but they had put broken yellow lines down instead of the yellow park outline that used to be there, a fair enuf mistake i thinks, have disputed it, will see what happens though.

[JimO]

they cost the council $1000, who processes the resource consent, the council??? but they just made $ 1000 converting that park

[gwigs]

If you had a Harley you could park it on the footpath.....they are exempt arent they:whistle:

[rosie631]

If you had a Harley you could park it on the footpath.....they are exempt arent they:whistle:

They most certainly are

[MDR2]

Dunedin is an awesome place for bike parking, spoilt for choice as far as parking around work goes (moray place).

Something I thought was a good idea, when visiting Melbourne, my sister tells me parking on the footpath is allowed in an effort to encourge bikes into the city... I'd certainly take a bike in as opposed to a car if i had to choose.

but then Melbourne has the fore sight to have incredibly wide foot paths...

[Rayray401]

Dunedin is an awesome place for bike parking, spoilt for choice as far as parking around work goes (moray place).

Something I thought was a good idea, when visiting Melbourne, my sister tells me parking on the footpath is allowed in an effort to encourge bikes into the city... I'd certainly take a bike in as opposed to a car if i had to choose.

but then Melbourne has the fore sight to have incredibly wide foot paths...

Thats what taiwan has....incredibly wide footpaths for scooters...but you can people abusing them...people who cant park a bike properly <_<

[mattian]

just got done for parking where a motorcycle park used to be (i always park in marked motorcycle parks unless theres none withine a good 200m) the sign was still up, but they had put broken yellow lines down instead of the yellow park outline that used to be there, a fair enuf mistake i thinks, have disputed it, will see what happens though.

hey man.... if the signs still up you should be able to get out of that. Go back and take a photo and, try and get some random stranger or passerby to be an independent witness for good measure. Some people are nice enough to do that for you.
If there is still a sign post up saying you can park there then, thats there fuck up, not yours.

[Mully]

I was talking to someone a while ago, and they told me it costs the council $1,000 for every "car" park they convert to a "motorcycle" park. The bulk of this cost is the resource consent process (yep, you have to submit a resource consent application to change the nature of what is going to be parked in that same spot - go figure).


That doesn't sound right. I would suggest that the Council's definition of "cost" included the lost revenue from cars parking there and bikes being able to park for nothing.

I can't imagine they would need a resource consent for that (what do they do, just paint a m/c outline in the park?)

[bogan]

hey man.... if the signs still up you should be able to get out of that. Go back and take a photo and, try and get some random stranger or passerby to be an independent witness for good measure. Some people are nice enough to do that for you.
If there is still a sign post up saying you can park there then, thats there fuck up, not yours.

yeh did that, they reviewed the case and said i still have to pay, thier pics didnt show the sign though so i sent my pic in, see what happens, bastards want 60 bucks for it too

[CookMySock]

There are so many little gaps to park a bike in. We used to park right outside the bank, but they, er, ah, asked us not too, coz, ahh, err, bad things started going through their minds, like, um, motorcycle robberies and stuff. :weird:

Steve

[Swoop]

the sign was still up, but they had put broken yellow lines down instead of the yellow park outline that used to be there,
A can of paint and a brush will have it back...:blip:

[bogan]

A can of paint and a brush will have it back...:blip:

haha, indeed it will, but those sneaky buggers have photos of my bike in front of the broken yellow lines, now if i could only get into the council servers and photoshop it a wee bit :shifty:

[sunhuntin]

its amazing how some scooter riders manage to take up entire park by themselves. theres one park that i make regular use of when in town, its about the size of 2 parallel car parks. i arrived one morning to find 2 scooters parked in it. one is a lady i know and it was parked perfectly. the other was someone i didnt know, it took up the entire rest of the park! i had a bugger of a time getting my bike in and having to allow for the lean of the stand etc. i was tempted to shift the badly parked one, but couldnt be arsed.

as far as i know theres no penalty here for parking in a car park. ive done it a couple of times when theres one right outside the shop i want. generally i feed the meter, but not if i can avoid it.

[p.dath]

its amazing how some scooter riders manage to take up entire park by themselves. theres one park that i make regular use of when in town, its about the size of 2 parallel car parks. i arrived one morning to find 2 scooters parked in it. one is a lady i know and it was parked perfectly. the other was someone i didnt know, it took up the entire rest of the park! i had a bugger of a time getting my bike in and having to allow for the lean of the stand etc. i was tempted to shift the badly parked one, but couldnt be arsed.

as far as i know theres no penalty here for parking in a car park. ive done it a couple of times when theres one right outside the shop i want. generally i feed the meter, but not if i can avoid it.

But "car" parks often have time limits, or you have to pay. The "bike" parks often don't have these issues.

[MarkH]

I parked on the road in a car parking area a little while ago and was only there for a few minutes. When I got back to the scooter there was a parking warden lurking around - he told be that if I wanted to park at either end of a parking area (like with the wheels right on the line that marks one end of the rectangle that encloses the parking area) then I could park there as long as I liked, because he ignores bikes right at the ends since they are not really taking up a car parking space. I am talking about where there is road marking for an area where maybe 4 or 5 cars can park. It made no difference to me on that day, but I will keep that advice in mind if I have a need to park on the street for longer than the P60 (or whatever) allows.

Kinda like here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=-36.860794,174.759988&spn=0,359.995894&z=19&layer=c&cbll=-36.860708,174.76004&panoid=4C52U7fB5RX7GQ4LsAHk8Q&cbp=12,157.31,,0,26.16
If you parked on the line behind the red car on the end.

[Squiggles]

Concensus within parking services is that the areas on the ends of parks are fine for motorcycles, however if you park in a carpark and do not pay... then it'll be down to luck. Footpaths are out. If you have any problems/suggestions then see below


Auckland City Council have a periodic dialogue with 'stakeholder' groups of 2 wheeled interests. (Scoter clubs, bike clubs, BRONZ, University Bike Club etc)

If you have specific issues with parking, or roading let one of these groups know, and it'll be raised with ACC parking 'services'.

Squiggles and myself from the University bike club, Ixion from BRONZ are a few that are on KB who can pass issues on to the authorities.

I was thinking of starting a sticky thread in the University bike club forum as a convenient way to record issues - good idea?

Of course, you're always free to get in their ear yourself...

[sunhuntin]

But "car" parks often have time limits, or you have to pay. The "bike" parks often don't have these issues.

yeh. only time ive used car parks is if i only want that one shop to pick something up, or, in palmys case, there were no bikes closer to where i wanted to be, and i was planning on buying too much to carry [books]
if i do use a car park, i try and leave enough room for other bikes to share if needs. i also park with my front end pointing out and level with the back of cars next to me... easier to see.
bugs me though when scooters use car parks cos they park hard against the kerb, and in an angled park, cars dont see them till they are half way in and then have to back out again. dangerous.

[ZK-Awesome]

I parked on the road in a car parking area a little while ago and was only there for a few minutes. When I got back to the scooter there was a parking warden lurking around - he told be that if I wanted to park at either end of a parking area (like with the wheels right on the line that marks one end of the rectangle that encloses the parking area) then I could park there as long as I liked, because he ignores bikes right at the ends since they are not really taking up a car parking space. I am talking about where there is road marking for an area where maybe 4 or 5 cars can park. It made no difference to me on that day, but I will keep that advice in mind if I have a need to park on the street for longer than the P60 (or whatever) allows.

Kinda like here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=-36.860794,174.759988&spn=0,359.995894&z=19&layer=c&cbll=-36.860708,174.76004&panoid=4C52U7fB5RX7GQ4LsAHk8Q&cbp=12,157.31,,0,26.16
If you parked on the line behind the red car on the end.

I don't like parking in places like that, you do run the danger of boxing the cage in. It would be pretty easy for them to back into your bike as cages often have to reverse a bit to get out of parallel parks.