Ok, its not often I think about motorcycle parking, but this is kinda annoying. Greyhound moved around so much, bumped parking and now doesn’t even need the space since they moved. I don’t even know where they are any more. Anyways, more than you need to know about motorcycle parking and Greyhound. This is also on the Transit and Parking Commission Agenda. They really just don’t care about the communities they are in and how they impact them.
TO: Transit and Parking Commission
FROM: William Knobeloch, Parking Operations Manager
SUBJECT: Motorcycle Parking
At the June 8th TPC meeting, a citizen pointed out the reduced number of motorcycle stalls near the Memorial Union and its impact on riders and the Utility’s revenues. He argued that there was a large demand for cycle parking in the area. Some of the motorcycle (6 stalls) and vehicle (2 stalls) parking in front of the Red Gym was removed this year to accommodate increased intercity bus traffic. A recent phone call to Greyhound indicates they no longer use this stop. Other bus companies are starting up new service to three Wisconsin cities in July at a yet-to-be-determined location. The 6 motorcycle stalls near the Park/Langdon intersection remain. While Utility staff originally opposed this parking reduction, Traffic Engineering insisted that it was in the best interest of ped/bus safety to make the change. Traffic Engineering staff recommended waiting until later this year to determine what bus schedule changes are made and what schedules are in place when students return this fall. If there is consistent, reduced intercity bus parking demand, then parking can be restored at that time.
The Utility has 60 motorcycle-only parking stalls in our system, most of them in our structures (see attached list). A motorcycle stall is typically 4.5 ft. wide and 8 ft. long. We determined these dimensions by measuring large cycles like Harleys. A full-sized Harley can be over 8 ft. long and 3 ft. wide. When we lay out the parking for a city block, we start with standard vehicle stalls (18-24 ft.) or short vehicle stalls (15 ft.) on the block ends or near driveways. If there isn’t enough space for a short vehicle stall we look for a space for a motorcycle. A good example of this is the motorcycle stall in the diagonal parking area on Henry Street near Gorham. Since State Statutes allow motorcycles to park in vehicle stalls (but not the other way around), cyclists have an opportunity to use every parking stall in our system. Vehicles parked in motorcycle stalls could receive citations for parking outside of the designated stall. Parking enforcement officers allow up to three cycles in a standard-sized vehicle stall. None of the cycles will receive expired meter citations as long as there is time on the meter; however all could receive citations if the meter is expired. The very low use of the on-street motorcycle stalls in inclement weather played a large role in determining Utility policy towards motorcycle stall placement. It is not economically feasible for the Utility to replace the motorcycle stalls with vehicle stalls from November through April when usage is very low. The stall lines in particular are very troublesome from this aspect.
The Union area has one other element not often considered when thinking about parking. The University has a much larger number of parking stalls in this area than the City. Lot 1 between the Union and Gym has 77 stalls that are enforced from 7 am to 10 pm with a rate of $1.50/hr. Three of the Lot 1 stalls are motorcycle only. Helen C White has 194 stalls at $1.50/hr that are enforced from 7 am to 10 pm. Eighteen of the Helen C White stalls in the permitted area are motorcycle only, while none of the metered stalls are motorcycle only. The University encourages motorcyclists to use the stalls they designate for them. The City stalls are $1.50/hr for vehicles and $ .75 for motorcycles and are enforced from 8 am to 6 pm. After 6 pm, the City stalls are full most of the time. Not only are they very convenient but they are free to users after 6 pm. Staff believes that the City should sync up enforcement times during the 2012 general rate modifications with the University to distribute the demand among all of the facilities and allow parkers more parking choices. The parking demand in this area is sufficiently high until 10 pm to encourage parking turnover.
We welcome suggestions for better utilizing vacant space in our parking system from commissioners or
the public, and encourage you to point out these parking voids to our staff.
