121–130 of 307 posts
quick survey : how many readers actually ride to work?
I did for ~8 years until about a year ago, when I went 100% remote.
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Is the problem with open parking stealing bikes, stealing parts or breaking bikes? The obvious safety strategy is to have a bike of lesser value with better locks than what's available nearby. But I also ponder what it would be like to own a really valuable bike. Do people steal handlebars or something, because that would make sense to me? Or is vandalism the bigger issue?
People steal wheels, handlebars, bells, lights, bike racks and seats.
I had a not too fancy bike that uses Pinhead locks to secure every removable component. And a sturdy U lock. There were multiple attempts to steal various components including an angry thief breaking the seat post for no good reason - the saddle is worthless. Only finally to be stolen from a secure parking garage using an electric saw in full view of the CCTV camera. Police did nothing - not that I expected them to - enough other crimes for them to deal with. Insurance paid for it. I used it to buy a nicer bike that I only ride on weekends. I’m back to taking public transit and supplanting that with bike share and walking.
One of the attempts included a bike next to me that was stolen from a really popular tourist area with a cafe seating opposite the rack.
When I see the way bikes are parked in Amsterdam it makes me jealous. I want to move there just for that freedom. I enjoy biking.
I have heard London is worse. Solutions are emerging. There’s a crowdfunded tracker that claims to solve the radio communication problem from inside a metal body. If true, it can track the bike with a tracker located inside the frame.
This concept would make a fun (thought) experiment for a street in the US. Imagine a car parked curbside in a city street somewhere in the US. No one complains, because this is how everyone expects street space to be used - as storage for private cars. Maybe there's a flatbed trailer attached to this car. Now add bike racks to the flatbed trailer. Next, add a stairway or a ramp. Then, gradually lower the trailer a li…
In my area you'd be in violation of local parking ordinances after the second step. Trailers, or vehicles with trailers, are only allowed to park alongside the road for a few hours at a time.
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Where in Ann Arbor? I live in it and have never seen a structure like this.
I'm looking at one right now on Main St. between Huron and Washington. It even has a library Summer Game code on it.
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I don't think something like this would be that successful in the USA - it's not lack of parking that keeps most people from riding, it's lack of protected bike lanes (or other "safe" routes), and lack of cultural acceptance of biking. Plus, open, street parking isn't that safe in a lot of cities, if I could ask for some specific parking infrastructure, I'd ask for lockable bike lockers... though I'd rather see bike…
The lack of protected bike lanes is a direct consequence of the policy of providing free overnight car storage on both sides of every residential/commercial street. The days of “share the road” are over: cycling advocates need to advocate for 1/2 street parking on every street if we actually want change, because this is a zero-sum game where only one side continues to murder and maim the other because they think they…
I think all it would do is enrage drivers that their parking space is being taken up by cyclists. To think that they'd finally recognize how much space is taken up by cars assumes that drivers are looking at this rationally.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130212-why-you-really-hate...
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>What I hear all the time with programs like this (where politicians almost have the opposite problem) is basically this type of (slightly made up) media dialog: “won’t it be dangerous to force children to ride bikes from age one?” >“Yes, but if we are to meet the emission goals by 2025 we have no choice”. Yeah, I don't think that you will succeed in convincing any parent with this kind of argument. Getting their kid…
As a parent in this exact situation, my reason is not primarily climate change (although it's high up on the list); it's about fostering independence and confidence. I'm pissed off that it's families and cyclists that somehow bear the enormous responsibility for improving driver behavior and justifying road infrastructure. We admit that our streets are by default "never safe" and then shrug and walk away.
Local governments (at least in the US) seem to systematically underinvest in experiments like this. Things like traffic congestion have a ton of weird, largely unpredictable positive and negative feedback loops. Seattle removed its waterfront viaduct from service for a couple of weeks before changing over to the new $3.3B tunnel and traffic was mostly fine, despite apocalyptic predictions of gridlock. It's not entire…
The locals in the US are militant against anything that reduces street parking in their neighborhoods. See 14th street bus lanes in NYC. https://www.amny.com/transit/14th-street-busway-lawsuit-1.33...
Bike lanes remain horribly under-provisioned even there, but it's not really a street-parking thing. It's just a car-first thing. A two to four lane road with no street parking but still no bike lane is not meaningfully more friendly than one with street parking.
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In my area you'd be in violation of local parking ordinances after the second step. Trailers, or vehicles with trailers, are only allowed to park alongside the road for a few hours at a time.
What about a pickup truck though (admittedly, harder to lower to the ground...)
Local governments (at least in the US) seem to systematically underinvest in experiments like this. Things like traffic congestion have a ton of weird, largely unpredictable positive and negative feedback loops. Seattle removed its waterfront viaduct from service for a couple of weeks before changing over to the new $3.3B tunnel and traffic was mostly fine, despite apocalyptic predictions of gridlock. It's not entire…
In all fairness, we had enough warning coming into it, and it was a short enough time period, that a lot of people I know were able to adjust their commutes (or avoid them entirely) for a few weeks so the trafficpocalypse never really came to fruition. On the flipside, ferry parking was an absolute wreck of congestion for locals and tourists alike. also, hi Frank! :)
On the other hand, you might be able to fix most of the pain points for a fraction of the price of the tunnel.
(also, hi Adrian :)
This concept would make a fun (thought) experiment for a street in the US. Imagine a car parked curbside in a city street somewhere in the US. No one complains, because this is how everyone expects street space to be used - as storage for private cars. Maybe there's a flatbed trailer attached to this car. Now add bike racks to the flatbed trailer. Next, add a stairway or a ramp. Then, gradually lower the trailer a li…