Hokiedad4

The guy's lawsuit is only asking $999, so he's not in it for the money, obviously.

I'm not a fan of suing over every last thing, but when you're in politically "progressive" cities, it's the only language they'll answer to.

Chris516

This website to the NYC DOT: NYC DOT - Parking Regulations

Makes no mention of commercial vehicles being allowed to double park.

So.....

We go here: NYC DOT - Parking a Truck or Commercial Vehicle

In the section titled 'Parking and Standing Near Bicycle Lanes', it says -

Trucks and commercial vehicles, when permitted to double park, must not obstruct a bicycle lane. Drivers must not drive a motor vehicle across a designated buffer zone except when it is reasonable and necessary to enter or leave a legal curbside parking space or driveway. Obstructing a bicycle lane is illegal and subject to a fine.

Also look at this: https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/download...aneparking.pdf

From all that. It sure looks like he has a case.

FBinNY 

This is a case of rulebook vs. practical reality.

In places like NYC, if every rule were followed to the letter, things would grind to a halt. It's common practice for unions to hold "rule book slowdowns" for this very reason. I have no idea how this case will play out, but if the job of making deliveries (any and all deliveries) gets harder, the end result will be the imposition of surcharges for pick up and delivery in Manhattan or throughout NYC.

As it is, most freight companies charge upwards of $60.00 for deliveries within the city limits over what the identical shipment delivered just over the border would be. This has been true for decades and they chalk it to added costs and lower productivity because of traffic, tolls, and fines levied.

My commercial neighbor is a moving company and they routinely get cited 3-4 times on a single residential move. They can usually negotiate these down to a single fine but the reality is that the client pays because they have to budget fines into the quotes.

In any case, the practical need to obstruct traffic to make deliveries is unavoidable in NYC, and I don't believe that we need to or should make bicycles sacred cows immune for the same disruptions we all live with. If the courts rule against UPS, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the City Council solves the issue by changing the applicable law.

kickstart

Building owners and Tennant's also have the right to reasonable access that's in keeping with its intended use. If there's insufficient access and/or enforcement of its use they can't simply deny access or impose unreasonable restrictions.

indyfabz

Seems he's looking for some money sine the earlier case was dismissed in part due to lack of evidence regarding money damages. The $999 probably keeps his cases within the jurisdiction of small claims court, and I doubt small claims court has the power to issue injunctive relief.

I wish him well. In Philly I routinely encounter bike lanes used as delivery parking spaces. UPS is a major offender. Where there are bike lanes the signs usually read "No Parking," not "No Stopping." Don't know how the legal definitions differ, but one "meter maid" who gave me a ticket in a no parking zone said I had been there for over 15 min. so I was considered parked.

vol

I agree that this lawsuit is not only unnecessary, but I'm afraid it will divert attention to lesser hazard from many more serious hazards to cycling in the city. Vehicles blocking the bike lanes happen all the time and are bad, but those caused by UPS deliveries are far from the main culprits.

(By the way, doesn't the helmet worn by the guy have too many and too large vents? )

bakes1

This

rydabent

Drivers of delivery trucks seem to think they are above the law when it comes to parking. They just pull up and stop anywhere they want to. They even block cars from backing out of parking spaces. They could at least pull into an alley.

kickstart

Which is also an "above the law" choice.

vol

This makes delivery by drones very desirable

FBinNY 

Yes, you definitely want to live below a bunch of drones delivering 40# boxes.

CliffordK

They could simply add "loading zones" to the parking for commercial parking only, or limiting parking to 5 minute drop-off/pick-ups.

Of course, NYC likes their streetside parking.

Now, that may not help the residential move, but a business that regularly receives deliveries shouldn't count on vehicles double parking.

vol

If the UPS truck doesn't block the bike lane, it would have to block vehicle lane, and may get complaints, too? Given this occurs mostly in local residential neighborhoods [edit: commercial areas, too], and maybe for just a few minutes, it would seem to me the energy is better spent on bike-lane blocking by vehicles in more dangerous surroundings, or maybe on reducing potholes. I guess the guy has ample time to go to small claims court and spend half day there time and again.

It may happen...
Bezos says Amazon's drones will be as common as mail trucks - CNET

FBinNY 

Yes, it may, but I doubt it'll ever get past the novelty stage. All the talk is fine, but sometimes physical realities get in the way. By it's very nature, flight is energy inefficient. It's not a big deal when all a drone need do is get itself and it's battery airborne, but as things scale up, and payload is added, the size and weight of drones necessary to do the job becomes too cumbersome and expensive for the task at hand.

mr_bill

Poor repressed motorists. Let them whine!

Poor repressed building owners and tenants. Having a delivery have to park five feet further from the curb is taking away some sort of mythical right.

In New York City you don't block diamond lanes, no matter if they are bus lanes or HOV lanes or fire lanes or bike lanes. And you don't block bus stops or fire hydrants either.

Kickstart undoubtedly knows this. But then again, there is so just much "embarrassment" to go around.

What is frankly stunning is the UPS spokesperson did not know NYC traffic law.




(ps - this travel lane in Cambridge was going to be blocked either way.)

-mr. bill

B. Carfree

This seems to be get to the heart of the matter. What's the priorities? If it's travel lane>parking>bike lane, then the law should be amended to make that explicit (and also to shut up the pols who are wont to claim how green and pro-bike they are). If the bikeways are of equal priority to the travel lanes, with both higher than private car storage, then it would be trivial to mark out commercial loading zone parking along the street. Many, many cities have done this. That would require UPS to pay for commercial plates for their delivery vans (maybe they already do this in NY?), but I think they can handle the small cost increase.

Moe Zhoost

The demand for quick and efficient deliveries is universal. We all take advantage of it. I'm not going to begrudge a guy parking in a bike lane for a short period. No sweat to just go around.

mr_bill

UPS, FedEX, USPS etc are all commercial vehicles in NYC. This lets them load/unload in loading zones, lets them load/unload in bus lanes ONLY during specific loading hours, and yes, double park for loading/unloading. It does not let them load/unload in diamond lanes.

-mr. bill

B. Carfree

Thanks. They aren't commercial vehicles on the West Coast.

It wasn't that long ago that California allowed them to park in bike lanes to make deliveries. Sadly, Oregon still lets them and people taking on/dropping off passengers do it.

FBinNY 

How dare you post anything so sane here on BF???

Leastbest

I'm a retired UPS driver (37 years). I can't imagine doing the job if I couldn't do a quick stop and block something.

mr_bill

You can block something. In fact, you can block many things. But you can't block *EVERYTHING*.
(A trivial example - stopping on railroad tracks to make a delivery - very unwise.)

-mr. bill

kickstart

Yes, bus stops, bus lanes, track and trackless trolley ROW, and mail boxes are a no-go.
If there are no loading zones available, travel lanes, bike lanes, alleys, restricted parking, and drives are going to be used without any embarrassment or apology.

I get paid by the hour, no skin off my nose to bring freight back to the terminal for the customer to pick up themselves. But that's not how the real world works, and I suspect it wouldn't fly with the public if transportation companies started doing it that way on a large scale.

kickstart

UPS and Fedex deliver roughly 20 million packages a day.

CliffordK

Yes... apparently closer to 25 million globally (not just NYC, and certainly not a single truck). The point is????

I don't expect the trucks to circle the block for an hour looking for a parking spot to do a 2 second package dropoff. Nor, should they walk 20 blocks from the parking spot to the delivery location.

But, there are some businesses that have a lot of deliveries, and should have specific commercial parking to decrease the number of double parked vehicles. And, a driver can walk 1/4 block from a parking spot to the delivery location.

Part of the problem is too many cars and not enough parking in the cities.