Ticket for parking violation

[BuXu]

So I got a ticket for squeezing into a parking space this weekend. I took the bike into Boston and parked it right in front of my buddy’s car and went to the gym. When I came back out saw a ticket. This was on Congress Street near the Seaport Hotel and the World Trade Center.
I always thought that it was okay for bike to park with a car in a metered spot. I guess I was wrong.

[ae]

Fight it. Say that you paid for the meter and the "other guy" decided to share. Do it online. It will get dismissed.

[rsw81]

Unless they also ticketed the car, they have no way of knowing who paid the meter (you or the car). So just like in post #2, fight it!

[DroFiveOh]

Fight it. Say that you paid for the meter and the "other guy" decided to share. Do it online. It will get dismissed.

Brilliance.

[BuXu]

Thanks guys! Yeah I did as suggested. Wrote up a dispute letter and sent it out. This was Massport authority so no online dispute.

So is it true that you can't squeeze in front or behind another car? Or I was ticketed because it was Massport property and they do things differently?

[SVenpointsixtwo]

I've been ticketed twice for the same thing recently. It's a spot in the south end with enough room for a bike between a metered space and a driveway, but not big enough for a car. I've been parking there since last year with no issue; then twice in one week, both by the same enforcement agent, I get tickets. There are no signs prohibiting parking, and plenty of space for a bike or two outside the standard length of the metered spot, so it's not like I'm "squeezing in" or taking up space that a car otherwise could.

If the city of Boston installed motorcycle/scooter specific spots in the south end at 25c/hour and no maximum, I'd gladly pay. But we shouldn't get punished for doing our part to solve Boston's congestion problem.

[Joe?]

I've received and fought similar tickets. I was let off but told that just because it isn't explicitly forbidden doesn't make it allowed. They are cracking down on 'free' moto parking, it'll get worse before it gets better.

[7UPyours]

got a $65 ticket for parking on a sidewalk along with 8+ other bikes or so, couldn't think of an excuse so just paid it, next day I was dropping my wife off at work and I see a cop on a bike parking on a sidewalk like he owns it I should have taken a pic of it but whatever

[golden chicken]

I have heard that the law in Boston is that bikes are to park parallel to the curb unless in designated parking.

[rsw81]

I have heard that the law in Boston is that bikes are to park parallel to the curb unless in designated parking.

This is true. Someone else on here mentioned he got a ticket for parking perpendicular to the curb. I still do it as it is the safer and easier way to get out of the parking spot. If I ever get a ticket, I will certainly fight it tooth and nail.

[DesmoTull]

I've received and fought similar tickets. I was let off but told that just because it isn't explicitly forbidden doesn't make it allowed. They are cracking down on 'free' moto parking, it'll get worse before it gets better.

Yeah, big crackdown today in the Fort Point Channel area.

[Garandman]

So I got a ticket for squeezing into a parking space this weekend. I took the bike into Boston and parked it right in front of my buddy’s car and went to the gym. When I came back out saw a ticket. This was on Congress Street near the Seaport Hotel and the World Trade Center.
I always thought that it was okay for bike to park with a car in a metered spot. I guess I was wrong.

There are two places in the area where motorcycles usually park with impunity.

The first is on the wide sidewalk next to a parking lot at approximately 169 Seaport Boulevard, Boston - near the intersection of B Street. You can see them on Google satellite view.

The other is a bike parking area on gravel under cover off D Street on Silver Line Way.

Thanks guys! Yeah I did as suggested. Wrote up a dispute letter and sent it out. This was Massport authority so no online dispute.

So is it true that you can't squeeze in front or behind another car? Or I was ticketed because it was Massport property and they do things differently?

Boston and most other cities require motorcycles to park parallel to the curb except in the dedicated spaces.

Just ask Kingcast.

[Joe?]

The rules of thumb I lived by were more than kicking distance from a fire hydrant and the end of a metered space (like this and this) AND under a bike cover and you were good. Kicking distance meant if standing at the hydrant you couldn't touch the bike with a foot you were OK, as told by a meter maid. Once that spot on Atlantic got too hot I found another one tucked away behind PO square. It worked for close to a year until one day I came out to a ticket tucked into the top corner pocket of the bike cover. Yes, the meter maid had lifted the cover, wrote the ticket, and pulled it back down. When I went to pay it online I found that I had been ticketed 5 times in the past 2 weeks and hadn't seen any of the other 4. I ended up getting a new job out of the city with actual parking and didn't feel like dealing with city hall since I was no longer in walking distance, so I paid them. If I were still stuck parking in town I'd get a cover alarm and/or do a better job securing the cover so that the cover can't be as easily lifted.

Good luck to everyone who is dealing with this bullshit, I feel your pain.

Edit: Never been dinged for not parking parallel, I think it was usually 'not in metered space,' etc.

[DuncanMoto]

They change the motorcycle parking laws all the time in Boston.
It used to be perpendicular, then it was changed to parallel, then back to Perpendicular in 2008. It must have changed back since then.
The thing that sucks is that it's perpendicular in Brookline and sometimes I forget what Line I have crossed on Beacon St. or Comm. Ave.

[BuXu]

The other is a bike parking area on gravel under cover off D Street on Silver Line Way.

Just ask Kingcast.

Ah shit! I work in that glass building and this is where I've parking my bike every Friday for the past 2 years. There are others park there too. Are you sure about this? I was there the past Friday and got no ticket. It would suck if they take that spot away from us.

[doctorbossman]

This is true. Someone else on here mentioned he got a ticket for parking perpendicular to the curb.

In the South End near BMC they will definitely ticket you for parking perpendicular.
And I've gotten ticketed for parking too far from the curb. I parked parallel to the curb next to another parallel bike (double parked but still within the width of the space) and the ticket read something like... "too far from curb".

[me109g4]

use a bogus plate????

[rsw81]

In the South End near BMC they will definitely ticket you for parking perpendicular.
And I've gotten ticketed for parking too far from the curb. I parked parallel to the curb next to another parallel bike (double parked but still within the width of the space) and the ticket read something like... "too far from curb".

Interesting, I park my bike near BMC all the time under a cover and have never had any issue.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

Interesting, I park my bike near BMC all the time under a cover and have never had any issue.

Where do you park? I go to school at BUSM and park on E. Concord, but have gotten a couple of tickets there, even with a cover.

I had heard that meter maids weren't allowed to lift covers to get at the plate, but evidently this one does, and just wedged the ticket under my front wheel.

[rsw81]

I typically park on E. Springfield. Less traffic'd than E. Concord, so fewer meter maids. I've asked several officers if they can lift covers and they said no. Where on E. Concord are you parking? Right next to the hospital or across Harrison?

[DesmoTull]

I called the Boston Transportation Department [(617) 635-4680], to inquire about the expansion of dedicated motorcycle parking to other parts of the city. I left a message for someone over there. I encourage NESR to do the same.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

I typically park on E. Springfield. Less traffic'd than E. Concord, so fewer meter maids. I've asked several officers if they can lift covers and they said no. Where on E. Concord are you parking? Right next to the hospital or across Harrison?

Pretty much right next to the School of Medicine building; something like 66 E. Concord. East Springfield isn't resident only?

There were two more bikes (one was a grey BMW tourer that's there ALL the time) in a "legit" spot on Albany (directly across from the ambulance entrance to BMC) got ticketed today as well. Fuckers!

[rsw81]

Pretty much right next to the School of Medicine building; something like 66 E. Concord. East Springfield isn't resident only?

Yes, it is resident only. But if you're under a cover, no one seems to bother with it. I live in the South End, but don't have a parking sticker and have NEVER been ticketed so long as my bike is under it's cover (which is invariably is).

[Garandman]

I called the Boston Transportation Department [(617) 635-4680], to inquire about the expansion of dedicated motorcycle parking to other parts of the city. I left a message for someone over there. I encourage NESR to do the same.

I got the name of the planner who did the first spots. I'll listen the vmm and get the contact info.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

Good call! I'll have to try that out; I won't scam your spot though!

Just contested mine online, so I'll have to see what the outcome there is...