BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

That car should really be wearing a helmet, it might get hurt.

looks like a good opportunity for a pedal test

I hope a piece of paper got stuck under the wiper. If not a kind note from one of us, then perhaps a not-so-kind note from a policeman.

Here's from the driver's perspective - http://goo.gl/maps/V62N

I'm thinking more like a piece of paper saying "You're parked in a bike lane" stuck in the dump I just took on the hood.

Legal people, how much would the fine be for pooping in public on the hood of a car? If it's anywhere south of $250, I would totally pay that for the opportunity.

Would it do any good to send similar pics (including license plate) to 311? Elsewhere?

pittsburgh.mybikelane.com

Put poop under the door handle.

When I lived in squirrel hill, I once tried to call the zone 4 station to report someone parking in a no-parking area in a way that blocked my street, figuring it was illegal-but-not-emergency. They told me to call 911 then, so I think it's valid now.... (that admittedly was before 311 (and no, I didn't call).)

I've 311'd cars illegally parked before to no avail. I think it's worthless for reporting specific cars (latency is too high) but I was hoping they'd take some action in the future to make it more difficult for people to park illegally (more signs, more enforcement, etc). i'm sure "call 911" is the "right" answer but good luck with that, and it seems dumb to me to call 911 for something like that. oh well, if only we had something like this:

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?a=369564&c=34793

I think sloaps posted the Google Maps link to show the guy is parked right in front of a no parking sign

Seen in Philly just now:

Happens in other cities also.

I'm pretty sure that in one way or another poop is the solution.

I say we keep reporting these a-hats using the Portland site linked above. At some point someone in Portland will call a person of power here in Pgh and have a WTF conversation about all of the Yinzers tying up their lines with complaints from the other side of the country. It would make for a great TV news story too. Maybe the embarrassment will persuade the cops in our town to actually use those ticked pads.

(or we could use poop)

I'm not sure, but I don't know if Mr. Rodgers would approve of the Poop Solution. I can't see him defending the illegal parkers either, though.

I, however, am not as good a person as Mr. Rodgers, and believe that Poop Diplomacy, while not correct, is sometimes the only satisfying answer.

Is there really no way to directly contact Parking Enforcement about illegally parked cars? Those a-holes seem to be so desperate to write tickets I assumed they would appreciate any opportunity to boost their number of citations given.

Also, when exactly did bike-pgh become the local board for scat-talk?

Is it illegal to park in a bike lane if it's against a curb?

911 is supposed to be dispatching calls to the appropriate department. If you report a parking violation to 911 and they don't handle it properly (forwarding it to Parking Enforcement, for instance, or dispatching a patrol car if one's available), then it should be a matter for 311, so the broken system can be fixed.

It's illegal to park anywhere there's a no parking sign. I'm not sure if there is a no parking sign now along that bike lane, but there ought to be one.

if I had a smartphone I would be lighting up that website with a-hats that park in no parking zones downtown and make my commute much more dangerous.

There is a no parking sign outbound. Send an email to 311 and ask them to patrol and enforce that area. They will let parking enforcement know about the problem. I don't know what to do about Sundays...

http://reno-rambler.blogspot.com/2012/06/parking-in-bike-lane-solutions.html

lulz!

i wonder if similar ideas could help mr marvelous over on the bike rack etiquette thread

also: feces

Excrement is an ugly thing to work with. Inconvenient and just plain nasty.

You risk some serious legal hassles just for leaving some and a kihndly message to a misguided motorist.

Spit on their driver side door handle. Fast. Lovely surpise for the driver.

How about poop stripes on the car that look like a bike lane?

Disgusting and informative!

If you don't have one on deck, take a stroll through Frick Park and harvest some dog loaf to complete your masterpiece.

Parking in these Neville bike lanes is so hot! Extra bonus sexy points for the No Parking sign...

(Re: above photo): It's the ass-hat-trick: 1) on top of the bike lane graphic, 2) directly in front of a NO PARKING sign, and 3) two wheels solidly on the sidewalk!!!

Woot-woot!

Can Poboy redeem this photo at Wendy's for a free chili or somethin?

Their confidence in Oakland drivers is displayed by how far on the sidewalk they are. That's no sidewalk.

Report these to 311. It will continue until the parking is enforced. You can't paint lines on the street where people have been parking on Sundays without letting them know that they can't do it anymore.

Are you sure a call to 911 wont yield a ticket? I've been written a parking ticket from the Pittsburgh Police on a Sunday evening in Oakland for parking within 15' of a crosswalk.

Of course that picture shows an SUV. What else?

The guy has to somehow justify the purchase of an off-road vehicle.

Having the car parked there makes the cyclist iconography look even more like a crime-scene chalk outline.

Somebody needs to animate a Mr. Bill face on Flat Cyclist there. "Oh no..."

Perhaps if we carry around chalk we can write on the pavement next to the door "Please don't park in our bike lane. We don't like having to change lanes to go around you."

That person is important. A luxury SUV! He/she can do whatever he/she wants!!!!

...too bad it's not a 4-wheel-drive. They could have just parked it in the grass...

@ pierce Perhaps if we carry around chalk we can write on the pavement next to the door "Please don't park in our bike lane.

+1

I think any kind of specific communication will get most car parkers out of the lane. Little note on the windshield might work.

...on the other hand, the driver of the vehicle pictured above managed to specifically ignore a large infographic and a street sign...

It's Pittsburgh. We ignore all traffic and parking signs and slow down for tunnels here.

I'm mean, if yinz are on the southside and you have two parking choices, one with an official, Luke Ravenstahl approved, "No Parking" sign and one with a chair in it?

There is only one right answer.

Everyone in this town had trouble with the part of the Dick, Jane, and Sally book that said "S-T-O-P".

(That's the dog's name, right?)

There were about three cars parked in that bike lane this morning

A couple commercial vehicles parked there yesterday as well when I went to get some groceries.

311 or stop complaining.

really?

People were parking in front of a set of steps near my office in a way that made them inaccesible. All of us would complain about them, call them jerks, etc. One day I took a photo and contacted 311. People stopped parking there within a week.

"311 or stop complaining."

I concur. It seems like everyday there is a vehicle parked in the bike lane, in front of the no parking sign, and/or on the sidewalk. If we all contact 311, Parking Authority will likely have a week-long ticket-gasm. After that, people should get the idea.

Update: Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 28683

Update II: We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID Number associated with this request is 292646.

@rsprake: Party-pooper. I was having fun with that thread. Such rich fodder.

You're right. It is fun. But how about from now on if we post a photo of a bike lane violation we post it to pittsburgh.mybikelane.com and send it to 311.

Deal?

Ooh, this is gonna be fun.

See, all that Tag-o-Rama and Wheelset Of Fortune work was just warm-up for the real thing.

Oh, and for what it's worth, it does appear both the meter maids and traffic division hit Neville today: https://twitter.com/sloaps/status/213022706478759936

Ah, there's something immensely satisfying about seeing that car with two tickets on it

FWIW, when I made the 311 report, I included the picture of the SUV committing the parking violation hat-trick. I even changed the filename to "Jagoff Parking" in hopes that it would get the point across.

Jay gets and Upvote.

I went to investigate further and above the no parking to the right, parking to the left signs there is a very faded no bicycle sign at the end of that bike lane

I think that's a No Bikes On Sidewalk sign. The "On Sidewalk" part seems to fade extra fast, but you can still read it in Street View.

Car was not only still there last night, it was still there this morning. Didn't go that way tonight, but if it's still there tomorrow, I'm reporting it abandoned...

ticket number: 28768

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Abandoned Vehicles

MESSAGE

Vehicle has been parked in the bike lane, at a no-parking sign, since at least Wednesday afternoon (and has received multiple tickets in that time). Please remove.

LATITUDE 40.44854732552975

LONGITUDE -79.94782090187073

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID Number associated with this request is 292646.

Dials 911...

"What's your emergency?"

"I parked my car in a bike lane last week and it's not there anymore."

(with apologies, edit of rsprake post):

Dials 911...

"What's your emergency?"

"I parked my car on Neville last week and it's not there anymore."

"That part of Neville is a bike lane sir, as well as posted No Parking."

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

Just our luck that somebody decides to park their car in our bike lane and go on vacation or something

Further modification:

(with apologies, edit of rsprake post):

Dials 911...

"What's your emergency?"

"I parked my car on Neville last week and it's not there anymore."

"That part of Neville is a bike lane sir,"

"So?"

"... as well as posted No Parking."

"Oh."

I fear that the minor modification there is more than a bit possible in some people's minds.

@Stu absolutely possible. On ELB two years ago I was following a truck that rode in the bike lane from Highland to Hamilton. I pulled up beside them at Hamilton and motion for them to roll down their window. The window rolls down and it was an off-duty cop, I proceed to tell them that they were driving in a bike lane. "So?" was their reply. I was dumbfounded.

Yet another revision:

Dials 911...

"What's your emergency?"

"I parked my car in the bike lane on Neville last week and now it has a boot on it."

meanwhile, on the bikepgh forums, the sound of dozens of hands hitting foreheads can be heard throughout the internet

"Some cyclist stole my car! When I came out, there was a bike stencil painted right there in the parking lane on Neville where I always park! Like a clue!"

"Whaddaya mean, towed?"

I almost got in an accident yesterday on my motorcycle because some guy ran a red light. I called him out on it and he said "yeah but who really stops for those anyways."

People concerned about their own safety?

> Just our luck that somebody decides to park their car in our bike lane and go on vacation or something

When I rode past there around 1p Friday, the part of the bike lane not occupied by the cream sedan was taken up by a private coach bus loading, perhaps for a church summer camp. (Somewhat oddly, the kids being loaded and their belongings seemed to be being staged in the church parking lot, but I guess the bus didn't fit or something...)

Illegally parked cars are just so very vulnerable to someone screwing with them. Of course, no one here would ever do anything like that, but it's amazing to me that someone would leave their car parked like that and go away, given all the easily accessible ways there are to reduce a car's value through vandalism.

rode past there yesterday morning during church, and the whole bike lane was filled with parked cars. is there an exemption on sunday mornings?

They answer to a higher law

311 it on Sunday mornings.

@Hidden Variable is there an exemption on sunday mornings?

There seem to be various places where cars park on sunday morning for church athat are otherwise forbidden. Not sure what the deal is there.

as an atheist i am going to park my car wherever i damn well please when i go to do something rational then.

You can park free at a meter on Sunday, but parking at a No Parking Any Time sign is illegal (at any time).

When cars park illegally on my dead end street (sometimes blocking the road completely) my call of choice is 911, not 311.

I don't see why the cars mentioned above should be treated differently.

cburch, you're funny.

helen s - I'm not sure they have to be treated differently, but from what I've heard on here of actual physical emergencies requiring immediate police response suffered by cyclists, and 911's reaction to them, I'm not sure 911 would generate any results. Then again, maybe they've improved.

What would I do EJ? I'd shove this in his tailpipe and tell him to get outta ma hood!

Over at Bigelow and Parkman, there is the Islamic Community Center. Every Friday, they park in the no parking zones along Parkman, Bigelow, and the surrounding area, but they have a parking variance from the city that allows them to do so (they even put flyers in their windows that reference their variance number). It might be the case that the church at Neville & Ellsworth has a variance to use the no parking zone on Sunday morning, but barring that, I think they should be ticketed and/or towed.

Side note: I went into that church last Wednesday and asked the first person I found if they could pass along that the bike lane is a no parking zone. Because their service was in progress, the only people I found were in the daycare, but they assured me they would tell the necessary people.

I think the approach here should be two-pronged: 1) Call/email/write the church everytime we see a car parked in the bike lane on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, requesting that they stop blocking the bike lane, and 2) keep filing 311 claims and calling the police to report the cars in the no parking zone.

i asked whether there was an exemption for them because there are often sunday service execptions to no parking zones. for example, it would be absurd for anyone to think parking on fifth avenue anywhere near negley was ok, but the signs do not prohibit it while church is in session.

as an atheist myself, i don't necessarily have a problem with it, as there are plenty of precedents for various things of this nature, be they religious or just social and secular. what i do have a problem with, i guess, if it is ok to park there on sundays, is them calling it a bike lane the rest of the time.

I think a case could be made that a bike lane is different from, say, the outer lane on Fifth Ave and that the bike lane should not be pre-emped during lower traffic hours.

Maybe a simple leaflet that says "You're parked in our bike lane, so don't honk when we're in your driving lane."

Hm... a couple of thoughts: does this line of thought slide the slope towards the notion of bikes in bike lanes only? I mean if we are going to try and uphold the sanctity of the bike lane above common practice (parking during services, etc.), in-effect requesting special treatment, aren't we asking for a sort of "separate but equal" accommodation? Isn't this is a bit of a hullabaloo in the world of advocacy (on the road with the cars v. on separated lanes...)?

And, much of Fifth Avenue allows for parking on Sundays. Not just during mass, but all day. By that precedent, I'm not sure it is a big deal for parking to be allowed atop a bike lane during services or other periods. Autos have to make accommodations on Fifth on Sundays, so why can't bicycles make the accommodation on Neville? (Of course I'm referring to accommodating services, etc., not a**hats).

I'm an atheist too, but I go to service every Sunday morning (Quaker meeting) and would never park illegally. (Of course, I usually ride my bike). I don't think your religious affiliation has much to do with whether you park in a no parking zone... maybe these folks are Parking Universalists.

ALMKLM, I think that's the main point of cyclists who don't want bike lanes put in - bike lanes rarely if ever have the same options as all the travel lanes (turning left, for instance, one has to leave the bike lane) yet motorists seem to want cyclists to stay in their special lane when they have one. If we're expected to stay in our special lane, then it has to be clear. At the same time, the special lane makes some cyclists feel safer, because motorists will often "stay within their lines" where otherwise they'd perhaps not allot cyclists the room they'd like.

It's a catch 22. In traffic in this state, on paper, we have all these rights. If those rights were respected by the motorist majority, we'd have no need for bike lanes or other special cycling infrastructure. Since those rights are ignored or disrespected in ways that disproportionately harm cyclists, to make up for it and perhaps in an attempt to make roads more "cycling friendly" we have special infrastructure. That same special infrastructure can then be golden handcuffs against our asserting our rights as a valid part of traffic.

I'm pro-bike lanes (if only as a form of cycling advertising, and because I find strange OCD comfort in biking inside nice crisp lines). I also recognize the limits of bike lane design as implemented here, and am sensitive to the problems bike lanes DON'T solve.

But if there were no lovely bike lane there, there'd still be a "no parking" sign violation.

On Fifth, signs say parking's OK on Sunday. If the signs on Neville don't say that too, then cars shouldn't park there.

I think that's the issue, not whether it's a bike lane (since there are plenty of bike lanes that allow parking).

that's essentially what i was asking, Steven.

i am generally a vehicularist when it comes to cycling advocacy. i think that without acceptance of bicycles as a valid part of traffic, we won't get anywhere. still, i think the most important piece of the puzzle is just getting more people out there on bikes. and i think bike lanes contribute to that.

i also get sensitive about poor placement of bike lanes. i kind of hate the lanes on liberty, since the pavement is rubbish for most of them, and the lane itself might be better off as marking the door zone than the bike zone. and i would almost rather not have bike lanes than have them and not be able to use them some of the time. almost.

i am definitely of the mind that if bike lanes are put in, they should be dedicated to bikes and nothing else. the way we've structured our society and land use is already to the extreme disadvantage of bicycles, so if we are going to put in bicycle specific infrastructure, it has to remain bicycle specific.

@ALMKLM - And, much of Fifth Avenue allows for parking on Sundays. Not just during mass, but all day.

Are you sure? The church at the Blvd of the Allies and Dawson gets variances for services, and they somtimes, but not always, will get a variance for activities on Sunday afternoon.

If you are parked there on Sunday afternoon when the church doesn't have an activity, the police will tow you. Sadly, I know this for a fact.

@hidden variable i am definitely of the mind that if bike lanes are put in, they should be dedicated to bikes and nothing else

+1.

They have parking on some streets for church services - but never have parking on a parkway entrance or in a bus lane.

Mick - 5th has from Penn in (not sure where it changes, if it changes) "No Parking Except Sundays" signs, and man do people park there on Sundays. It takes guts too, because people will rear-end the first in line (especially drunks for whom it is still Saturday night).

@Mick: if not by law , then by practice... this is, after all, Pittsburgh...