The driver here was apparently waiting for a spot to open in this short stretch of College. They would back up then pull forward and then back up again for little other reason than to cause as much of a distraction as possible. It was cold, but when there is a side street with ample free parking just a few metres west, how lazy are you?

Toronto Parking Enforcement officers frequently park illegally...so they can hand out parking tickets.

I said "you need to be a role model. What example are you setting"?

He said "call the city if you don't like it".

Parked for about 20 mins. The female driver came in to Starbucks, saw the line and returned to the van. I thought she may have realized she was parked illegally for an expensive coffee. Nope, just waited in the truck and came back in once the line was about one person shorter.

So i was toiling away in yeah olde bike store on Friday, when I glanced outside and noticed a car parked in the bike lane. I thought nothing of it. A lot of times cars park for a couple of minutes to answer a phone call or pick up a son or daughter from the local high school. I have learned in the past that by the time I get out there to tell them to move, they have already moved on. I usually give them a couple of minutes before I ask them to move on.

Well this feller was taking his good old time getting the heck out of the lane so i decided to take action. I have also learned from past experience that getting angry with people never works, so I put on my best pleasant face, the one that I keep behind the counter for bike lane parkers and went to have a chat.

He rolled down and looked at me with disinterest. The first thing that I noticed was that he was reading a book so I knew that he was going to be there for a while.

"Hi, you're parked in a bike lane, would you be able to move."

"No"

"Do you really have to park here?"

"I am working," he said. It was then that it donned on me that he was an undercover cop.

"What you working at?" I asked.

He wrestled around in his seat until he was able to liberate his wallet from his pants and flipped me his badge.

"Well do you have to park here?" I asked, knowing full well he could park anywhere he wanted.

"I'm working."

So I left it at that. I walked back into the shop with visions of me pounding his head off his steering wheel, screaming, "Fucking pig fucking pig!!!" over and over again. I have no idea what he was working on except getting through the next chapter of his book.

So I could only do what anyone could do on these occasions. I got my camera and took a couple of pictures. If you notice the second picture has a cop car in the background. For a few seconds I thought about calling him over, but I knew he would be just as disinterested as the first cop.

Infuriating is not the word that I could describe at how I was feeling, but I did get some satisfaction of knowing that I could at least put his car on the Interweb and hopefully some kids who might be busted for smoking weed would see him first and get away.

The worst part of this is that it was two days after the Police Service Board considered Allen Heisey's deputation to enforce the bike lanes more as well as double the fines for parking in the bike lane.

Fucking pigs.

Over the last few days, the media has been reporting that there is a push to increase fines for parking in the bike lanes, and to increase enforcement. Obviously hasn't started yet.

Toronto Police vehicle #11S1 (Supervisor), license plate BEYY 864.

The officer could clearly be seen inside a restaurant getting some takeout food.

There was an article in The Toronto Star's online version talking about cars parking in bike lanes.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/fixer/article/727855

Three feet from the curb ought to be enough.

If you're going to block the car lane anyhow, why go half way?

This truck was stopped in the northbound bike lane on St George St in the heart of the UofT downtown campus, north of Harbord St near the Rotman biz school. The truck forced me out into the traffic. I explained why he should move. Giving me a withering look, to his credit he did move.

Good to see the Toronto Police 11 Division protecting the Annette St. bike lane from illegal parking as they grab some breakfast.

License plate AVSA 127, car number 1205.

Wellesley Street east of Queen's Park is an important safe(ish!) corridor for bicyclists (and skateboarders). Recently the road markings were upgraded with new chevrons painted. This Canada Post employee decided to park with his front bumper over a chevron. Meh.

This woman couldn't be bothered parking legally; she stopped instead in the bike lane (near designated bike lane signs) so she could walk the fewest steps to the front door. When challenged verbally, she had no dis/ability reason for this manoeuvre.

This Penske truck completely blocked the bike lane on College St Eastbound, just East of the intersection with Beverley St.
(PS: the Starbucks right next to where this rental van was stopped was renovating - maybe their workers put the van there?)

This occurred on the University of Toronto campus, on Saint George Street northbound just north of its intersection with College Street. The people in the photo were loading his bike into a stopped grey Matrix crossover suv/stationwagon. Driven, I think, by his mother. Talk about narcissism.

Good to see that City of Toronto Parking Enforcement vehicle PKW30, license plate AYCA 758 is doing such a good job at keeping the bike lane clear of parked motor vehicles.

There was nobody inside the vehicle, nor anywhere visible on the street.

Blue GMC Safari, license plate ACFD 857. Westbound on Annette just before Keele St.

If you look closely, you'll see the red Subaru from the previous post driving by. :)

"What are you doing?"
"I'm taking your picture of your car!"
"Why?"
"Because you're parked illegally in the bike lane!"
"I'm just picking someone up!"
"It's still a bike lane. There are plenty of other spaces to park nearby. These photos will be posted on mybikelane.com soon."

Hope you found the website!

New bike lane, already full of parked cars on a regular basis. Though the situation HAS improved a little since they finally installed the "No Stopping" signs.

This Nissan Maxima, license plate BBTX 361 was parked on the sidewalk and in the bike lane on Annette St., just west of Dundas St. W.

Unusually, this was in the evening. I typically see cars parked here in the morning when parents clog up the bike lane, road, and sidewalk dropping their kids off at school.

This guy was pissed off when I told him why I was taking a picture. He was buffed up from time at the gym and clearly did not like being told he was ever in the wrong. I promised him he'd be on the internet anyway.

Delivery completed. Have a nice day, thug.

(There was also a UPS driver in the background, but that arrived after I passed by that area.)

"I might move if you threaten me with something. Like a camera."

And about 60 seconds later. Oh, look, a bicyclist shadow. La la la.

"This is Death Trap Road. Nothing new to see here. Move along (around me) now."

* "Except those bloody bicyclists."

(Those work cones don't protect you, cabbie.)

"What more do you two-wheeled nazis want from me?"

"We need a trailer hitch, too.

"You bicyclists can run along now! You squeeze in tight places better than us car drivers can, anyway."

This city parking enforcement officer in his car (far right) looked but didn't even slow down, even as I was taking the picture.

"MUNICIPLE WINNAR IZ DEY."

"Because my husband is using the ABM. I don't understand why you have to take a picture of our car."

"Because you're in violation of blocking the bike lane, and you're going on the internet."

"Oh." *significant frown*

"My right wheels are on the curb, okay? Both lanes are clear. Huh? What are you talking about? I only see two lanes. There are three? C'mon, bikes don't count! You people can just go around me. You can't put me on the internet!"

Only started to move after a lecturing, after the camera was pulled out, and after being told he was going on the internet. Suddenly, he discovered all this parking space beyond the bike lane. Wow.

No, I don't know why I'm having a bicyclist take a picture of me. Wait . . . I just heard from that bicyclist that I'm gonna be on the internet! WTF?!?!"

A double-whammy! And guess what? There were people in both cars... I totally forget about this exception to normal laws when I'm not in a car. This exception states, "So long as you remain in your car and do not park it, you can break any traffic law pertaining to parking."

The usual spot where drivers block the bike way, this driver frantically waved his hands, perhaps in a plea to not be in the picture. A cyclist went by as this was going on.

I had a chat with her. I started with, "Why are you in the bike lane?" "You realize it is illegal. You understand it endangers bicyclists." She wouldn't move, so I said, "I will be taking your picture. Expect to see yourself on the web soon!"

Said man got a good talking-to by me. When I pulled out my camera, I do believe he gave a salute.

I stopped at the side of the road to take a picture of this awesome bike lane parking job. Not sure if this driver had the brilliant idea of parking a little ways away from the curb in the bike lane so that bikes might squeeze by on the inside?

Anyhow, as I'm taking the picture, a cab zooms in right in front of me. A woman jumps out and heads into the bank to the right. What is this, a parking lot? It seems so. The cab sits there waiting for the woman to return from the bank.

I walked my bike to the front of the cab and turned and snapped another picture... though apparently i'd accidentally turned my camera off so that picture sadly didn't get taken. The cab driver was waving his arms apologetically at me from inside the cab.

Ho hum.

This is no surprise. I bike down this lane right in front of my place every day and there is always a truck or car idling in the lane. Not to mention they are blowing their exhaust onto pedestrians crossing by, but this truck forces cars and bikes into oncoming traffic by stopping here. There is a side street right around the corner or a huge parking area behind these buildings where this truck could have stopped. Cars are always stopped here too, many times cab drivers, running across the street to get food at the Jamaican restaurant. So annoying!

What's even funnier, is that a cop was parked right across the street and getting into his car when I saw this.

Today's "Cyclometer" newsletter that is sent out by the City of Toronto mentioned that there's a new bike lane on Renforth Dr., in the far west end of Etobicoke. I checked it out on my way home from work.

Not surprisingly, there were two cars parked in the bike lane pretty much as soon at it started, just south of Rathburn Rd. All of the houses along here have huge, generous driveways, none of which were full, so there was no excuse for these people to park illegally in the bike lane.

Hyundai Accent, license plate AMLY 031

Today's "Cyclometer" newsletter that is sent out by the City of Toronto mentioned that there's a new bike lane on Renforth Dr., in the far west end of Etobicoke. I checked it out on my way home from work.

Not surprisingly, there were two cars parked in the bike lane pretty much as soon at it started, just south of Rathburn Rd. All of the houses along here have huge, generous driveways, none of which were full, so there was no excuse for these people to park illegally in the bike lane.

Pickup truck, license plate 925 3WN.

This guy stops his car in the bike lane (and blocking half of the car lane also, forcing cars into the oncoming turning lane), leaving his family in the car, he runs into the Pizza place. What's the big deal, he's just running in and out, right? Probably not... turns out this is right at dinner time, and the pizza place is pretty busy.

The actual parking lot for this place is visible in the picture immediately ahead of the stopped car. But notice the one way sign. In what seems a rather poorly conceived plan the driveway ahead of the car appears to be out-only. The "in" driveway comes in off the street just behind the stopped car. It is a bit confusing, and leads to stupid behaviours such as this.

(As a side note, the worst pizza I have ever had in the city of Toronto was purchased by me a few years ago at this particular establishment.)

This is a particularly big example of the habit some people seem to have of racking their leaves into the "gutter"... which is to say, in the city, the street. In this case it is specifically a bike lane. Sadly this particular spot is in front of the entrance to a park, so perhaps may have been done by anonymous city workers. There are loads of examples of this leaves piled in the street on my route though---most of which while not explicitly having bike lanes is a designated city bicycle route.

It was almost by accident that i captured the truck in the background partially blocking the lane. I give this guy credit for at least trying to get his truck mostly out of the lane. It is a sad state of affairs where I'm actually grateful for a guy who only partially blocks the lane....

Isn't it interesting that the guy tries not to block the sidewalk, and tries not to block the road. Bike lanes get no respect.

The "free parking" in this sign is just ahead a few meters to the right. I wonder if the placement of the sign by the road here confused the woman who got out of this car (she did look a bit confused... or guilty... as she looked around before darting into the Davenport Tailors' shop).

As you can see the "bike lane" narrows at this point, and this truck decides to stop just exactly where the lane narrows to the point where only he can fit. Just back behind me the lane is wide to provide parking. And of course there's the appartment driveway that he could have turned in to to get off the road... but no.

At least once a week this truck is parked here in the morning blocking the bike lane on a narrow street. Note that i've recorded the truck's plate here, but the trailer plate is 054 15W. The insanity is extreme here where he is parked right under the bike lane sign, AND a NO STOPPING sign, AND right in front of a driveway he could presumably pull into if desperate. Pathetic. Every week it is the same.

It's obvious they can't stop or park there, but they still do.