Transportation Events Case Study 

Parking Meter Party

Date: Tuesday May 16th/95 between 4 and 5:45 p.m.

Location: Spadina, just south of College

Hosts: Queen Street West Bicycle User Group
 
 

Purpose of the Event

To give beleaguered cyclists and pedestrians and chance to respond to traffic conflicts more creatively and provocatively than the more typical (and often justified) angry reaction. Taking over some space that cars dominate and putting it to better use, if only for a short time, promotes a different vision for our streets, one in which streets are fun and lively public spaces. The event took place during Bike to Work Week when many bike-friendly events were organized, the hope being that the cumulative effect would leave a greater and longer-lasting impression on observers and participants alike.
 
 

Planning the event

The planning of the event was fairly stress-free. I had originally wanted to do some kind of street theatre targeting drivers who park in the bike lanes. I got a list of people who were interested in street theatre from Sue Zielinski (from the Toronto City Cycling Committee) and called them all to see if they could attend a planning meeting. A small group of us met and the Parking Meter Party plan evolved. We designed party invitations and distributed them widely, leafleting bikes and handing them out at Bike to Work Week events prior to ours. We also sent out a few press releases and made many phone calls to invite people. Party-goers were encouraged to dress in party attire and bring quarters to feed the meter.

Those of us who organized the event (there were four of us - Ben Smith Lea, Sally McKay, Alison Field and Nancy Smith Lea) each brought some party "essentials" such as a tape player, lawn chairs, streamers, party hats, candy and games. The game that was the highlight of the event was called "Pin the Pink Slip on Dough Floyd," a contemporary adult version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Doug Floyd is Metro's Transportation Commissioner who had a great deal of influence in crushing plans for bike lanes on Spadina. We scanned a photo of him from a Now Magazine article which coined him "Cycling Enemy Number One," enlarging it to 3 feet by 4 feet. The photo was then glued onto a piece of stiff board and erected on a bicycle trailer so that it could join in the Spirit of Spadina ride after the party. On pink pieces of paper (representing the notices people receive when they are fired) we printed out memorable quotes and actions of Doug Floyd. At the party, cyclists donned a blindfold and, with pink slip and a push pin in hand, stuck a message onto the head of Doug Floyd. The preparation for this game was the most involved of all the arrangements, but I think it was an important element because it gave a focus for the event.

The location of the event ended up being more complicated that I had thought it would be. Our first choice was Harbord Street, in front of Harbord Bakery. We chose this location for a couple of reasons:

1) in 1993/94 I had been involved with a working group that tried to achieve solutions for cyclists and pedestrians on Harbord. Out proposal was presented at a bitter public meeting in which many Harbord business owners expressed disapproval of any plans which would involve bike lanes or traffic calming. Harbord Bakery was one of the strongest voices, suggesting that if cyclists didn't like Harbord they could use Dupont. So, our plan was to show them what it could mean for their business to have people (of course we expected to buy sweets and coffee there!) in front of their store instead of cars.

2) The location seemed perfect because Harbord Bakery is on the south side and we assumed that rush-hour restrictions would apply only to the north side of Harbord, to westbound traffic.

A couple of us rode around one Sunday to scope out the possible locations, including Harbord. We found that no parking is permitted in the downtown core between 4 and 6 p.m. on major streets. The west side of Spadina was one of the few places that we found to be exempt, for reasons that we couldn't determine. It made a certain sense to choose Spadina due to the sorry history of how pathetically its planners serve cyclists. We would have preferred to set up on the east side of Spadina due to the time of day (the west side was in shadow) but this was a minor issue. The location worked well as joining up with the Spirit of Spadina ride provided a natural end to the event.

Not being especially bold by nature, I was a bit concerned about the possibility of confrontation with drivers looking for parking spots. I was pleasantly surprised that the affected drivers (and shop owners) seemed more curious than angry. As the numbers of our party grew, we expanded to take over not just one parking space but six!

Some people seemed a bit puzzled by what we were doing and it was a bit difficult to convey, especially as every participant (similar to Critical Mass rides) has a slightly different reason for attending. We concentrated on making the event fun and left any political statements oblique.
 
 

Future events

Although we all agreed that this event was a success and a great direct action for cyclists to take, we have not repeated it. Bike to Work Week provided a good impetus for organizing this event. Without this, other priorities tend to take over. Out goals is to have it be a regular event that people (including the organizers!) can anticipate, perhaps monthly or maybe yearly during Bike to Work Week.

by Nancy Smith Lea