[Elias]

So I work at a government institution and they are super stringent about parking. We’re talking almost a thousand per year just to park in shade. I’m not looking for a way around this but it got me thinking, I’ve seen people park their bikes almost everywhere around here. Sidewalks, empty land, basically anywhere there’s room. Do you ever park off the street/parking lot? What you you feel you can get away with? Here at ASU, you can actually park scooters at bicycle racks! (as long as they are under a specified displacement)

Should I be looking forward to parking on the sidewalk when it’s busy at the movies, because I see bikes doing it all the time!

[SantaCruzRider]

Like most riders, I’ve availed myself of the odd parking lot spot that’s too small for a car, such as weird corner spaces or a little patch of dirt just off the pavement. I figure it avoids having me take up an entire car space in busy lot. But I’m also careful to be sure that I’m not impinging on anyone’s access and sidewalks seem pretty sketchy for me and my bike.

Now a scooter — they have this friendly, non-threatening look, with all the hot and greasy parts politely covered. So they look perfectly at home on the sidewalk or next practically any place you can slide one in.

[Rab]

As SantaCruzRider says, you can usually find a triangle of road beside an inset metered space that you can squeeze into or a cross-hatched area in a parking lot that nobody will miss if you park on it.

Avoid the cross-hatched areas next to disabled parking places though as these are to allow wheelchair access.

[zeppelinfromled]

Definitely in a parking garage, I feel the motorcycles are entitled to park in any nook or cranny as long as we’re not blocking anyone in, and won’t get blocked in ourselves. I’ve been meaning to ask some metermaids if we can put multiple bikes in one metered spot (and only pay the amount that one car would pay). I’ve seen it done, and I’ve never seen anyone get a ticket for it.

As for sidewalks, if it’s wide enough that the bike isn’t inconveniencing anyone then I would do it. I think that my definition of wide enough is that maybe three people can walk shoulder to shoulder past the bike without having to go single file. I’m also much more willing to do it if I’ll only be off the bike for a few minutes. For an all day thing, I’d try to find a space.

[eon]

One thing I have learned from cops answering questions online is that malls and the like are private property and as such the parking restrictions are at the discretion of the owners. Some places will let you park on the sidewalk, other will not. Parking on public sidewalks is always illegal (I think). You may get away with it depending on your area. Personally I have never risked it. Too many meter maids here in Seattle and they are quite strict at enforcing policy. Most parking garages have bike specific sections and special rates.

[A]

I park on the sidewalks whenever I can, as long as my bike is not taking up the whole sidewalk that pedestrian can not get pass my bike. I’ve yet to receive a ticket for parking my bike on the sidewalk for over 3 years.
I leave my dead bug covered helmet and jacket on the bike, it serves well as a theft deterant, I havn’t washed my jacket for over 8 years, it probably has its distinct smell by now, but when I’m riding I don’t notice.

[Clay Dowling]

A lot of them have special areas for bikes. Ann Arbor, Michigan is one of the worst places I’ve seen for parking anything. The ramps were designed with the idea that no sane person would bring anything bigger than a sub-compact into town. But they let motorcycles park right by the gate. There’s a big area just for them right at street level.

[zeppelinfromled]

At Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, they let bikes just go around the barricades on the way in and out. There are plenty of corners and the like where cars can’t fit, but you can fit a few bikes, so we park there (and they encourage it, although it’s not marked as motorcycle parking). I think I’ll be riding to work a lot more – I work right by there, so I can park in their garages.

[WeaponZero]

I work for the Allegheny County Health Dept, and our parking lot can only accommodate roughly 1/3 of the employees who work in the building. It’s first come first serve.

My very first day coming to work on my bike after I bought it, I wasn’t sure where I could and could not park so I parked in a spot in the parking lot. I was told by the groundskeeper at the end of the day that I shouldn’t park my bike there because I can park it pretty much anywhere, so no reason to take a spot away from a car. Ever since then I’ve parked it in front of the loading dock entrance to the building and nobody has said anything to me about it since then.

[Author]

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