I have to agree with Mr. Bezanson. One would hope that the City would encourage the increased use of motorcycles for all of the reasons cited and provide an area for motorcycle parking on the street that did not require filling a meter. I think the benefits cited above outweigh the amount of money the city would receive from the meters.

I have been fighting this battle for 2 years now. Mr. Dresser wrote a front page story on my struggles just last summer( Sun story here: http://goo.gl/O19wi ). After I met with the Baltimore Parking Authority it was discussed that there would indeed be 10 hour spaces for motorcycles. After all, only garages that receive funding by the state are REQUIRED to allow motorcycles (One has to wonder if tax credits count as funding).

Parking spaces that do not offer a commuter option will not work. If someone can't commute to work on a motorcycle, park all day, then go home what is the point of the parking space? Many garages wont even fix their machines to detect a motorcycle so EVEN if one does have a monthly pass that does not ensure a parking space. Mr. Dresser saw in person how the arm of the garage would not open for my motorcycle.

The city of Baltimore only cares about cars and bicycles. My openion is if it's a paper machine a motorcycle should be allowed to park for free, or setup zones such as in DC where parking is free for motorcycles.

Motorcycles reduce traffic congestion, reduce dependency on foreign oil, take up less parking space per commuter, reduce pollution, and many other positive factors. Baltimore city has a lot to learn, unfortunately, they will never be on the side of the motorcyclists.

re: "Hey, if anyone has a bright idea of how to overcome that receipt-theft problem, patent it fast before someone else comes up with a solution."

When you get your receipt you take off the stub and stick it in your pocket. You place the ticket on your motorcycle and hope it is not stolen. If it is stolen and you get a ticket you now must go to court and prove you paid with that receipt stub. Congratulations, you've just lost a half day of work while proving yourself to have paid and the city will not reimburse you for your time.

Here in Austin (Center of the Universe) Texas they installed those meters a year ago. First time I encountered one I stuck a dollar in the meter, bought a ticket and then stood there wondering what to do with it. The meter maid, (who was male) walked by. "You don't need to buy a ticket. Motorcycles park free. Just don't park on the sidewalk".

Sounds like a plan to me.

Free parking for motorcycles seems like the best solution to me as well.

Also, motorcycles do not reduce pollution. Aside from CO2, they're much dirtier than cars because they don't have the same emission standards.

Simply allowing them to park free is far simpler than the other "options" discussed here, which amount to hoping that no one will steal the ticket, or magical thinking about non-existent "future motorcycle spaces".

After hearing from Phillip and finding several other cases of publicly funded parking facilities denying motorcycles ABATE of Maryland worked to have this situation corrected. Delegate Cheryl Glenn of Baltimore City was kind enough to submit a bill in the 2011 session of the General Assembly to require these facilities to allow motorcycles.

After a successful lobbying effort this bill was passed and enacted by the Governor's signature. To answer Phillp's question, yes, tax credits count. In fact any type of public funding counts. It is defined in the bill language. "“FUNDING” INCLUDES ANY FORM OF ASSURANCE, GUARANTEE, GRANT PAYMENT, CREDIT, TAX CREDIT, OR OTHER ASSISTANCE."

Another rider just reported to us that a facility in Annapolis (which is owned by Anne Arundel County) still had the "no motorcycle" signs up. After one contact they acted quickly, politely, and positvely responded by putting in a works order to have the signs removed.

I have contacted the Parking Authority several times asking about the meters to no avail and will do so again.

It sounds like they're at least trying. Sure, motorcycle parking should just be free, but it's Baltimore folks, the gods will not save us.

I lived in Los Angeles long ago and rode a motorcycle exclusively for a period of 2 years when I did not own a car. I made a few trips to San Francisco and was pleasantly surprised by the parking policy for motorcycles there. Motorcycles are allowed to park anywhere, including sidewalks, for free.

The parking and traffic situation in S.F. is so bad that they realized that it's better to encourage motorcycle and scooter use to get more people in and out of the city more efficiently. As for sidewalk parking, as long as you were careful to chose a space that did not block pedestrian traffic there was no problem.

Unfortunately the situation in L.A. is similar to that of Baltimore. It seems that they have no policy for motorcycles except to treat them the same as automobiles. I wish there was an official policy of encouraging motorcyle and scooter commuting because it saves gas, takes less parking space, and reduces traffic congestion.

Is it negative stereotypes of motorcycle riders that prevent a more rational parking policy for motorcycles? I rode a motorcycle strictly for commuting purposes. If there were parking policies that actually favored motorcycles over cars then that would encourage more people to commute on them and save the city a lot of parking space and traffic congestion. Is it possible that the city actually does not want to lose parking lot and parking ticket revenue for the benefit of motorcycle commuters?

I agree that motorcycles should be allowed to park for free, as long as the owner can prove that the motorcycle is more "green" than an average automobile. This would serve as an incentive to use smaller vehicles within the city.

As an aside, I don't agree with this statement: "Because parking spaces are no longer delineated by single-space meter placements, between 10% and 15% more vehicles can park in each block." Frankly, I've seen behavior that indicates quite the opposite - without the markings that delineate a parking space, I have seen cars parked with four-foot cushions in front and behind. Perhaps there is something in the code that prohibits this; without proper enforcement, the alleged 10-15% gain in spaces turns into a 10-15% loss,

Since the EZ Park tickets have a stub, it seems like there is an easier solution than putting in meters for motorcycles: just make the citation appeal process easier for motorcyclists. If you are a motorcyclist, rip off your stub. If/when your EZ Park ticket is removed and you are cited for a violation, simply call the parking authority (or do it online), give them your stub number and some sort of identifying information (your SS last four or bike plate number) and the city should be able to take care of it. Is there some barrier to such an easy plan?

I like the idea of motorcycles parking free.
Here's another: print an empty box on the receipt. Anyone worried about theft of the receipt can write their tag number in the box, and that receipt is then valid only for that vehicle. Carry some tape and tape the receipt down. Also works for convertibles and anyone who chooses to leave their car windows down.

Why use paper to begin with? When you pay for parking, you should be able to enter your license plate number into the EZ Park meter. The meter maids should have hand-held devices where they can just scan the license plates of the cars and motorcycles as they walk by and it will alert them if a vehicle didn't pay or is expired. Motorcycles shouldn't park free since they are using valuable street space, but their cost should be 1/4-1/2 of what cars pay. (Like motorcycles should pay the current car rates and cars should pay 4x as much... the current cheapness of parking in and around downtown subsidizes excess driving when people should be leaving their car in the suburbs and using something more efficient to get around downtown.)

Oh, and the city needs a lot more bicycle racks!