Item - 2024.IE18.9

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services, to install parking corrals suitable for cargo bikes on-street in appropriate locations, upon the request of the local Ward Councillor.

This report responds to a request from the Infrastructure and Environment Committee for the General Manager, Transportation Services to explore options for cargo bike parking in permit parking areas, by examining two options requested by the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. The first is to exempt cargo bike owners from being required to purchase a permit to park on-street, and the other option is to offer a voluntary program for cargo bike owners to display a unique licence plate which would allow cargo bike owners to purchase a permit parking permit.

Both options were explored and are discussed in greater detail as to why neither option is considered a viable solution. Transportation Services recognizes the increasing demand for safer, more convenient cargo bike parking options and that it is important to ensure that the growing number of residents can meet their transportation needs without a personal automobile. To support cargo bike owners, an alternative option that can be implemented as part of an existing program and under existing authorities is being suggested, through the deployment of bike corrals in neighbourhoods where there is an obvious need for cargo bike parking.

Bike corrals are an appropriate scaled solution for cargo bike parking because they provide additional security for cargo bikes users when parking their vehicles in the curbside and clears up any ambiguity surrounding the allowance of parking cargo bikes on-street in the same locations as motor vehicles. The use of bike corrals is the more practical solution rather than having to undertake an overhaul of a complex City-wide process, such as Toronto’s permit parking program to accommodate cargo bike parking.