There’s surprising news from the Toronto Port Authority: Free parking for motorcycles!
Porter Airlines is a regional airline with a fleet of Dash-8s that make milk runs between Toronto and smaller locations in Canada and the United States. The airline has been headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands since 2006 after it bought the island airport terminal and promptly served an eviction notice to the only other tenant, Air Canada Jazz.
But the only public access to the airport from the mainland is via the Toronto Port Authority-operated Toronto Island Ferry. Which raised a question in the mind of my friend Chris Hughes who runs a private tourism consulting company, BC Hughes. Alert readers will recall that Chris and I made several long road trips together when he was still manager of tourism for Ontario’s Bruce County region. As an extremely passionate motorcycle enthusiast himself, he was then tireless in the promotion of the Bruce County area as a preferred rider destination.
Currently, he’s working with industry partners to make all of the Lake Superior Circle Tour motorcycle friendly. In October he needs to fly to Sault. Ste. Marie on that business.
“I spend my days educating business owners why they need to accommodate motorcycles,” he says.
With all that in mind, Chris recently contacted Scotty LaFramboise, who manages parking and ferry control services at Billy Bishop on behalf of the TPA. Chris told Mr. LaFramboise who he is and why he needs to travel to The Sault.
“I need a very secure place to park my motorcycle,” Chris said, “What is the best option?”
To his amazement, LaFramboise sent back this encouraging response.
“You are in luck, we currently do not charge ferry or island parking fees for motorcycles at the airport. However there are a few restrictions. When boarding the ferry you must be careful to follow the instructions of the parking staff and deck crew. Never drive through or under a barrier gate, there is plenty of space to go around. Additionally, when on the island, motorcycles cannot park in a vehicle’s parking spot (hence the free parking). We have plenty of spots for you to park, especially along the seawall.
“Give yourself an extra few minutes to visit our parking control tower next to the ferry slip on the island. We’re happy to help you find an appropriate spot to park.
Our island parking is well lit, monitored, and secure. When the airport closes at night, the ferry service stops. It is not recommended that you park on the mainland, in fact, we do not allow it.”
In conclusion, the cost to park a car at Billy Bishop is $33/day, but for motorcycles, there’s no charge.
I’M NEARLY AN ADULT NOW, SO I can admit when I’ve made a mistake. Just the other day a person
named Liane Langlois wrote to say online etiquette had been breached in our September issue with the story, “RAT Patrol.” (I must admit though, I didn’t realize there even was such a thing as “online etiquette.)
In the one-pager about the Triumph enthusiast RAT Raid in Nelson, BC, we quoted from a website referred to as the Bonneville Owners Group.
Seems that’s only the subtitle to the name, which is actually (and more correctly) “BOG Standards.” Moreover, we failed to include the link: another egregious error. Ho-hum. But, in the interest of playing nice, here’s the URL:
bogstandardsed.blogspot.com
Related Stories and Pages:
Called Back to Prince Edward Island
The Enchanted Isle by Motorcycle (Prince Edward Island)
Unfinished Business – Riding the North Island to Holberg
#311 – Truly, it’s a numbers game Toronto – Motorcycle Parking
Riding the Algoma Loop
The Loyalist Parkway – Ride Through History (and Rock)
How to Experience the Isle of Man TT
Three Days in Motel K – No Way to Thunder Bay on Highway One