A delivery of no doubt critically important ephemera caused the lane to be no doubt justifiably blocked. Whoops! But what's that flapping on the windshield? Ticket time!

Alas, just a cost of doing business :(

There wasn't anyone in this vehicle. Doing some banking, no doubt, at the Royal Bank on this corner. Ah! But wait, who's that approaching from the front? Could it be... is it... Yes! A parking enforcement officer, doing the right thing!

It was at this point that Dude with the Unfortunately Bright Track pants (see previous post) hopped into HIS car and took off. It was all a very sweet, rare moment. Colleague and I had a quick chat with traffic officer and thanked her profusely for doing some good.

For kicks, we considered putting a "please don't park in my bikelane" flyer on the cop windshield... heh he! Didn't tho.

Dude with the... uhh... stylin' robin's egg electric blue track pants was "waiting for someone". Didn't seem to mind my colleague putting a "please don't park in our bike lane" flyer on his windshield. He wouldn't leave, of course, until... (see next report)

Note the cyclist in the background veering into traffic, and the sport ute veering to avoid the cylist. These two cabs didn't appear to be picking up or dropping off. Either they were waiting for someone to come out of the restaurant, or they were taking a breather. So to speak.

Note the police car that drove by moments earlier. They would have had to veer out of their lane to get around the cabs.

So yah, this driver did at the very least pull into a parking space. Note, however, how the amount of curb space to the right of the truck is pretty much equal to how far they're poking into the bike lane.

An "A" for effort, though.

So, that's the last of the vehicles I encountered in ONE trip along college. Nine, all told. Pretty grim, really.

Now you can divert into high-speed traffic PLUS get the door prize in one simple step! I chatted with the passenger at the next light about the little "please don't park in the bike lane" flyer I put in the drivers' window. He was chuckling, but I couldn't tell whether it was in a "yah, you're right" sort of way, or an "if it weren't illegal, I'd run you down to teach YOU a lesson" sort of way.

Note the cyclist. All for the wont of sticky notes and staplers.

I toyed with the idea of chatting with the fellow that got out, possibly suggesting that he might next time ask the driver to not block the bike lane when he stops.

I didn't.

And inconveniencing the rest of the world.

As I was taking this picture the driver popped into the shot. He got a bit aggressive. I calmly explained that he was parked in a bike lane, and that it's dangerous. He replied with that old canard, "I'm just doing my job". Further aggressive posturing ensued as I was trying to get a shot of the plate, then I just left. I got the plate shot of the front.

But it illustrated a point: drivers in the city can be a crabby lot- even downright hostile. So be careful in your dealings with them. I always take my shots with a smile on my face, some kind words of explanation, and a 'have a good day' at the end.

As I was taking this picture the driver popped into the shot. He got a bit aggressive. I calmly explained that he was parked in a bike lane, and that it's dangerous. He replied with that old canard, "I'm just doing my job". Further aggressive posturing ensued as I was trying to get a shot of the plate, then I just left. I got the plate shot of the front.

But it illustrated a point: drivers in the city can be a crabby lot- even downright hostile. So be careful in your dealings with them. I always take my shots with a smile on my face, some kind words of explanation, and a 'have a good day' at the end.

This person probably figured that since the lane was already blocked by the sport cute in front of it, that it was fair game. Now they DID pull over as far as they could, granted.

I guess who would ticket ANY vehicle in a bike lane, is the question.

Hmm... should I block the bike lane? Or shouldn't I?

Bit of a two'fer, this one: a Bell World truck in front of a Starbucks (feel free to speculate if it was a delivery or a... ahem... pick up), and the van in the foreground is creeping into the lane. I'm sure the blue shirted dood is saying, "Hey! You're six inches into a bike lane! That can be pretty dangerous for cyclists."

I've got second thoughts about posting this one, because, well, they are fire fighters and frankly I might require their services some day... but then I saw that they weren't actually in the midst of making a call... they were grabbing some joe from the starbucks across the street. The second photo is blurry (I didn't want to get pounded out), but you can see two fellows sitting on their front bumper leisurely consuming their latté grandé. Now, granted, it would be tricky to parallel park that bad boy, but still...