Motorcycle parking in trouble in downtown Seattle
Two issues, one solution
 Parking
in Seattle isn’t easy. And for motorcyclists it’s 400% tougher finding a legal
parking space than a car. Whether you live here or not, the man at the
right, Richard Conlin, needs to hear from you about the situation.
The parking landscape downtown is in continual change. The
city has done little to accommodate motorcycle parking over the years and it’s
getting tougher by the day. With the new pay station system that’s now coming
online, Seattle – whether it knows it or not - is doing its best to squeeze out
motorcyclists rather than welcome them into the area as traffic busters, low
emissions producers and revenue generators.
Photo: City Council
Member, Richard Conlin, is your first point of contact in solving Seattle's
motorcycle parking shortage. So far their office has been very good about
returning calls. If you want more parking for motorcycles in Seattle
use the information below to contact Mr. Conlin's office and have your voice
heard.
The Problem
Let’s start with the math…
- 5% of Washington state’s 6 million population rides
motorcycles.
- 565,000 people live in Seattle. At least 28,250 of them
ride motorcycles.
- Seattle has 9,000 metered parking spaces.
- 110 of the 9,000 metered parking spaces are for
motorcycles – or rather 1%. Can 110 motorcycle parking spaces accommodate the
cities 28,250 motorcycling population? Emphatically NO! Not to mention the
out-of-towners who commute in daily or visit otherwise.
- Where Seattle has 110 motorcycle parking spaces, there
should be at least 450 spaces designated throughout the street pay sections of
the city. Not the paltry 110.
- Seattle DOT has a history of being behind. In the
1900s, road building was discouraged in Washington, and you wonder why it’s
taken this long to develop a mass transit model that has been going on in
other cities for what seems like eons. You think the monorail is long overdue?
Motorcycle parking lags well behind that!!!
Seattle looks at cities like Portland and Vancouver for
typical parking models. Seattle might do well to look at Port Townsend as a
model for motorcycle parking. In that city’s main downtown area there are 5 to
20 motorcycle spaces per block. You might get the idea that someone in the
city's planning division rode on two wheels. Here in Seattle, you’re lucky if
there’s a single motorcycle parking space within 6 blocks of where you’re going.
If we had even one space per block we’d be in heaven.
The Solution
If you’re tired of parking illegally on the sidewalk, in a
maneuvering zone or in an alley, consider this. If Seattle took one automobile
pay station parking stall, striped it into 3 spaces and placed individual meters
into each one, we’d all have enough room to park legally without the hassle of
blocking cars and paying fines. I’d be happy to pay the fee just like a cage
driver, and the city would get plenty of revenue from the 3-over-one re-do to
cover their expenses. This isn’t rocket science.
Meters are better than Pay Stations
When it comes to motorcyclists using pay stations…now
that’s a joke. The way it works is you pull your bike into an auto stall, buy a
pay station ticket, place it on your headlamp like they tell you to, then
another biker pulls into your auto stall space and simply takes the ticket off
your headlamp and affixes it to theirs. And everyone I spoke to in Seattle DOT
and Parking Enforcement agrees it may not be such a great idea. INSTALL METERS
IN THE MOTORCYCLE SPOTS, NOT PAY STATIONS!!!! Sure we could go to the
magistrate, show them our credit card bill or bank statement, and prove we
bought a receipt that day, but TIME IS MONEY and we’re all worth more than that
time, whether we make $8 an hour or $80.
Essentially Seattle is squeezing out motorcycles. There are scooterists who make deliveries; the BMW
rider who wants to shop at the Pike Place Market; a commuter who works here, but
spends his money in his own town because parking is so bad here. The typical
government mentality of a non-rider employee is that motorcyclists ride Harleys
with loud pipes - and it’s just not the case, but keep that in mind.
I challenge every government employee to drive down 2nd
Avenue any day, any time and look at all the illegally parked scooters, commuter
bikes, and unmodified machines and then think twice about the
once-in-a-blue-moon Harley that roars past their house late at night. Then sit
outside their downtown office and realize how hundreds of motorcycles and
scooters go by each day and they never even know it.
What can you do?
Changes don’t happen overnight, but YOU can make a
difference simply by picking up your telephone or sending an email.
I’ll preface this by saying that everyone I spoke to at
the DOT and in Parking Enforcement are a) Very Nice People and b) Very
Understanding of the situation.
Take the five-day approach. Make at least one, if not
five, phone calls in the following order this week or next. Print this out and
stick it on your wall, place the dates into your Outlook Folder, or do whatever
you do to keep on track. Be absolutely certain that you treat each of these
people with the utmost respect. The more you do that, the sooner we’ll have more
motorcycle parking in Seattle.
Day One – (Monday?) – Call or email Councilman
Richard Conlin at (206) 684-8805 or email him at
richard.conlin@seattle.gov. Mr.
Conlin is the chair of the Seattle Transportation Committee. He is the wheel-
turner on these two critical issues whether he knows it or not. Parking
issues are based on policy and Mr. Conlin is the one who can bring policy
changes to the entire council and get the ball rolling in your favor. Call him
now, 24 hours a day, and let him know your position. You’re tired of being 400%
as frustrated trying to legally park your bike as an automobilist. If you are a
Seattle resident, tell him. If you live outside and frequent the area tell him
that. Let him know you are concerned about the extreme shortage of motorcycle
parking in the city.
Day Two – (Tuesday?) – Relax – Mr. Conlin has a
busy schedule. He not only chairs the transportation department, but serves on a
few others as well. Take a moment and read his bio at
http://www.cityofseattle.net/council/conlin/biography.htm.
Day Three (Wednesday?) – No one from Mr. Conlin’s
office has returned your call? If not, pick up the phone and call Bill Jack at
(206) 684-8328 or email him at bill.jack@seattle.gov.
Mr. Jack is a nice guy, and is in the upper ranks at Seattle DOT. He doesn’t
have much pull on policy changes, but it’s assumed that Mr. Jack speaks often
with Richard Conlin.
Day Four (Thursday) – No messages back from Mr.
Conlin or Mr. Jack? In the unlikely event that this occurs, you’ll need to get
in touch with Nora Chinn who works with Bill Jack. But before you do that call
Richard Conlin out of courtesy, then call Bill Jack if you didn’t get Conlin –
theeeeeen call Nora and let her know about your concerns about the lack of
parking in Seattle for motorcyclists and be sure to tell her that you tried to
reach both Richard and Bill before you resorted to calling her. You can reach
her at (206) 684-5381 or by email at
nora.chinn@seattle.gov. Nora will also be happy to mail or fax you the list
of the 110 available spaces for motorcyclists to park in here in the Seattle
(which of course you can call her for anytime 24 hours a day). Simply provide
her your address or fax number and they’ll be right to you.
Day Five (Friday) - If you make it this far (and I
doubt you will because most people in Seattle government are very responsive)
give Motiryo Keambiroiro a jingle and let her know how you feel about the
parking situation for motorcyclists in downtown Seattle. You think cage drivers
have it tough? Motorcyclists have to spend five times as long as an automobile
driver looking for a parking spot in downtown. Which means we usually
give up and park illegally. No wonder - when you’ve got a 1% parking
availability. Her department writes all the tickets. But Motiryo understands and
she’s got the in with Tracy Krawczyk in parking management who is the head of
policy planning and major projects. To reach Motiryo (mo-tree-o) call (206)
615-0822.
Day Six (Monday) - You haven’t heard from anyone
yet?? Oh my… everyone must be on vacation. It’s time to call (206) 733-9329 and
speak to Tracy Krawczyk, or email her at
tracy.krawczyk@seattle.gov. Ms.
Krawczyk is running the pay station project and needs to hear from you. Tell her
how uncomfortable you are placing a self-sticking receipt on your wet
rain-soaked headlight!
None of these figures include the parking spaces operated
by AMPCO which monopolizes much of the paid parking garages in town with only a
handful of motorcycle parking real estate available. If you’d like to call them
you can do so by calling (425) 462-7515. They need to hear from you how 5% of
the state’s riding population rides and how they should provide 5% of their real
estate to motorcycle parking…because after all…street parking does get filled up
no matter what.
PT/Summer 04
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