Changes to Parking Rules and a Request to the Parking Foundation

Since watching my car float away during Hurricane Katrina my wife and I had become hardcore supporters of public transportation. While she worked up in North Wales the 94 and the 134 got her to and from with limited issue (okay, there was the time the bus made the wrong turn on 309 and went 20 miles in the wrong direction getting her home at midnight instead of 7 pm as they had to wait for an escort to help them get back on track). We became fans of Philly CarShare until they eliminated the "no charge" limited use monthly plan. Then we moved to 19119 and I learned to despise the 23. Five times an hour is a big fat lie.

In recent months it didn't matter if I got to the bus stop at 8:45am or 8:10am. I would be waiting until almost 9am for my ride to work. Growing tired of this I looked at my options and got a scooter. A moped. A little 50cc device that would send me up and down the Avenue at speeds that sometimes could reach 45mph. One of the nicest parts about this is that it is legally considered a bicycle. I could park on sidewalk (as long as I was in line with the buildings) and didn't have to fear ticket or towing.

This all changed last week. I exit a business I had purchased a few things at to discover a parking ticket on my ride. $76?! Jeez. I check with the parking "code" and it states that I shouldn't have had any trouble or tickets with my vehicle. I speak to the PPA (oh what wonderful people) and they inform me that the laws have changed, but no tickets were to be written until Nov 4th 2009.

Scooters will no longer be permitted to park on sidewalks in Philadelphia (NYC just began these regulations as well) and must be limited to the designated Scooter/Motorcycle parking spaces alloted by the city. The representative of the Philadelphia Parking Authority I spoke with yesterday informed me that parking a scooter in car spaces could, in some instances, result in a ticket - and fines would be higher for bikes at an expired car parking meter than an expired scooter/motorbike meter. She suggested I use the scooter parking lots on Market Street until I informed her I was looking to park in the Chestnut Hill section (there are already scooter spaces in Mt. Airy).

So I ask the Parking Foundation to please add these spots. There are 11 registered scooter owners in 19118 and more in 19119 and 19038 (we have quite an online community and know about each other). We are already considered progressive as our vehicles cause less pollution, get better gas mileage (I get 90 miles per gallon) and descrease traffic congestion. We just need a place to park.