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A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

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Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#151

Post by belorn »

8ytecoder wrote: post #122
lazyasciiart wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People steal wheels, handlebars, bells, lights, bike racks and seats.

And break seatposts when they are angry they couldn’t steal anything. 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…

What I don't get is why the same thieves do not steal the wheels, head lights and other parts of parked cars. Seems like it would be more profitable.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#152

Post by gamblor956 »

bikeshaving wrote: post #144
Johnny555 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Temporarily repurposing street parking is a great tactic to get people to realize how much public space is given to 1 person which could serve many 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-yo…

If you’re conceding that most motorists are irrational, then we as cycling advocates have all the more reason to adopt more aggressive tactics to eliminate parking. Cycling advocates should consider, in addition to legal pop-up parking replacements, sabotaging parked cars and parking spaces, blocking roads without permission, and other forms of protest to reclaim our streets. This is how Amsterdam was won ( https://w…

Driver getting angry for a few minutes vs wanton acts of sabotage, vandalism, and violence...

This is why most drives regard cyclists as irrational and why most people choose not to cycle or not to identify as cyclists.

And I say that as someone who both drives and bikes.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#153

Post by Broken_Hippo »

mrmanner wrote: post #135
Johnny555 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not as helpful as bike lanes that let you bike there safely. To get to my previous employer, I had to bike across a freeway overpass with exits/entrances and high speed traffic, and then ride along a two lane road (35mph posted speed, 45-55mph actual speed) with no shoulder. Despite being an avid biker and living only 4 or 5 miles away, I only biked there a handful of times, dealing with traffic was too scary. There…

The basic idea of “experimentation is good” holds for bike lanes as well — before making a permanent strategy decision for an entire city they could try painting bike lanes in a neighborhood or for one commute where people are willing to try biking. When it works out, it’s easier to convince car people that they’re better off when there are fewer cars on the road even if the road is smaller.

Bike lanes in neighborhoods aren't as necessary as the traffic is slow and there isn't much in neighborhoods to bike to - grocery stores, jobs, and so on. This is pretty much a recipe for failure.

Instead, we need major corridors to have safe bike lanes. The major route between residential and business areas is a good place to start since the scariest traffic is there.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#154

Post by icelancer »

frankus wrote: post #35

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…

>> It's not entirely unfair to claim that they could have saved literally billions of dollars by just closing the viaduct for a month or two and observing what happens to traffic patterns.

This is basically what should have happened. The fact that we rarely do experiments in local government is infinitely maddening to me.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#155

Post by runarberg »

vortico wrote: post #145
Johnny555 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>it's lack of protected bike lanes (or other "safe" routes), and lack of cultural acceptance of biking. In my opinion, it's because most people live too far away from the places they need to go in order to bike there. I wouldn't want to ride a bike 20 miles a day, regardless of bike lanes or bike parking.

There are buses, trains, etc. That can take you most of the way. It is super handy to be able to bike to a well served direct bus route, take the bike on the bus, and bike to the destination without having to have to change from/to an underserved indirect lane.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#156

Post by usrusr »

belorn wrote: post #151
8ytecoder wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And break seatposts when they are angry they couldn’t steal anything. 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…

What I don't get is why the same thieves do not steal the wheels, head lights and other parts of parked cars. Seems like it would be more profitable.

The ratio between profit and police attention would be terrible for the "innovator". But it happens nonetheless, just like roof tile theft, wire theft and so on.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#157

Post by mooon »

tastygreenapple wrote: post #133
halbritt wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, pretty much. Motorists can be extraordinarily vocal without realizing how extraordinarily entitled they are to be able to operate their motor vehicles in urban environments where accommodating those motorists has an extraordinarily detrimental effect on the community in terms of space, traffic, pollution, congestion, etc. Not really a slight against motorists, I am one and never had this realization until I spe…

In America, Motorist == Community. It's bikers who are deviations from normal. We've built our cities for cars, now these bikers demand 'inclusion' on infrastructure they broadly don't pay for while flagrantly violating laws (ever seen a bicyclist come to a complete stop at a stop sign? Me neither).

I think it's fascinating that motorists (like you) happily break traffic laws all the time. As a simple example mild to moderate speeding is completely acceptable, as are any number of other minor infractions.

However a bicyclist who comes to a rolling stop (an act which endangers nobody but the cyclist, and which poses little danger since cyclists can hear and see what's going on unhindered) is often trotted out by folks like you as proof that _they_ are somehow the lawbreakers.

Do you see the hypocrisy in your position, or are you unaware?

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#158

Post by neilv »

I like how this doesn't have a frame around it, and is just an extension of the curb, including for safety reasons.

My city (walking distance to Boston, Mass., proper) seems relatively pro-bikes by US standards, and was experimenting with placing a pipe frame bike rack in parking spots, on at least one major street. But given the Boston-area prevalence of texting drivers, drunk drivers, aggression over parking spot scarcity (see "Boston space savers"), and high degree of animosity between some drivers and bikers... that frame looked to me like a deathtrap cage, for getting you mangled by a bunch of bicycles, if a car ever hit the frame at-speed while you were inside.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#159

Post by Johnny555 »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #153
mrmanner wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The basic idea of “experimentation is good” holds for bike lanes as well — before making a permanent strategy decision for an entire city they could try painting bike lanes in a neighborhood or for one commute where people are willing to try biking. When it works out, it’s easier to convince car people that they’re better off when there are fewer cars on the road even if the road is smaller.

Bike lanes in neighborhoods aren't as necessary as the traffic is slow and there isn't much in neighborhoods to bike to - grocery stores, jobs, and so on. This is pretty much a recipe for failure. Instead, we need major corridors to have safe bike lanes. The major route between residential and business areas is a good place to start since the scariest traffic is there.

True, in the example I gave above, the first part of the commute was on quiet neighborhood streets, that part was pleasant even with no bike lanes (the neighborhood even had speed bumps to keep traffic speed down), it was the last 1.5 miles where I had to cross the freeway and ride on an a narrow road with fast traffic where it became unpleasant.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#160

Post by avar »

lorenzhs wrote: post #66
jascii wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The avarage bike around here retails for about $1500, so $15000 in a single swipe isn't bad. I have seen an entire bike rack being pulled out of the ground using a truck and winch, so yes it does happen. Research has shown over and over again that penalty is seldom a factor in decision making, gain vs perceived risk of getting caught is, and stealing a single bike is still a felony. You don't need a tow truck license…

That's nowhere near the value of bikes you'll find on the street in the Netherlands. The average resale value is going to be much much closer to 50€ than $1500.

This used to be true in Amsterdam but has really shot up in recent years due to E-Bikes. In some areas every 5th or 10th bike is now an E-Bike, which are easily €700-1200 second-hand.
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