The City Paper wrotes about the shortage in bicycle parking in buildings, despite the new Bicycle Commuter and Parking Expansion Act of 2007 (Act).
The multideck parking garage at Lafayette Center, where Gossett works as a partner with Mayer Brown, spans two buildings and has room for 500 cars. For bikes, there’s a single rack that holds 10 at most. [WC: Law is 5% minimum or 25, but bumps up to 10% if those spaces are being used regularly] Situated in a corner of the garage, the old iron structure is often stacked beyond capacity. One bike last week was locked to a rickety sprinkler pipe; another was secured to a trash can outside.
“If I have a doctor’s appointment or something like that in morning and come in [WC: to the Hart Building, not sure if DC law applies there] as late at 9:30 or 10 or later, you can’t park inside and lock to one of those racks. You almost have to go to one of the racks outside,” he says.
“[StoryHouse Productions on Wisconsin Avenue NW has] got a bike rack in the parking garage in the basement of the building.… It’s small, but it’s usually full,” says Hollar. When there’s no room inside, he has to lock to any metal fixture he can get his hands on and risk being reprimanded for parking in front of the office.
“Sometimes the building will object to locking bikes to the railings. They go around and try to find out whose it is and ask them to move it,” he says. Hollar doesn’t blame the hypocrisy on the employees telling him to move his bike; they’re just following orders, he says. Officials with the building management company, Carr Properties, and the garage management, Atlantic Parking, did not return phone calls asking for comment.
Mike Goodno, the District Department of Transportation’s bike specialist, says the city has installed 800 new bike racks in the past five years.
True, but they've removed 400+ parking meters.
[Lafayette Center] should legally have three times the space it currently has for the two-wheelers. But Jim Sebastian, DDOT’s bicycle program manager, says he has to rely on citizen complaints to keep real estate companies honest; city inspectors are rarely part of the equation. “We don’t have the resources” for that level of enforcement, Sebastian says.
Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, bike commuter and promoter, knows that argument well but blames the bureaucracy as a major culprit. He says he’s unsure if the city can handle the influx of cyclists. “Well, I think there is a lot of lip service by DDOT and others in the executive branch how we’re going to go to biking,” he says via cell phone while riding his bicycle down Pennsylvania Avenue.
“We’re making some progress, but as you can see, there is almost a disbelief that we are going to create infrastructure that is not just for pedestrians and cars, and that roads are not going to have to suffer the inconvenience of having bicycles,” he says, “but we are actually going to make way for them.”
DC is also having trouble installing streetside parking. There are long gaps between deliveries of new racks, and not enough employees to install them quickly. I've had trouble parking in popular spots like Barracks Row and Gallery Place. I recently tried to get a Metro bike locker at New Carrollton. After a week I got an email saying they were all rented and that I should try again in the fall. "Can I be put on a waiting list?" I replied. No response. With all the space at New Carrollton, I can't believe they can't find a place for more bike lockers. If it's a matter of money, then raise prices to get rid of the waiting list and use the extra revenue for more lockers. Or so something like what CTA in Chicago is doing
CTA commuters who ride bicycles to four busy rapid-transit stations will no longer have to worry about drying off their bikes at night after rain or snow, the Chicago Tribune reports. Enclosed parking structures will be built at four of the CTA's busiest rapid-transit stations -- Midway on the Orange Line; Sox-35th on the Red Line; Jefferson Park and Damen on the Blue Line -- thanks to a federal grant.
Poulos Construction of Chicago is set to begin the work next month, creating space for 120 bikes at Jefferson Park, 112 at Midway, 108 at Damen and 42 at the station serving U.S. Cellular Field.
The structures will look more like a carport than a fully-enclosed parking garage. They'll be open in front with a roof and three sides. Some of the structures will feature double-decker bike racks. Most CTA stations have outdoor bike racks. A few have racks positioned in the fare collection area inside the station. But nowhere is there an outdoor parking structure.
The four stations were chosen because their demand for bike parking has exceeded the available supply, according to Brian Steele, a spokesman for the city's Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the project.
So demand for bike parking increased above supply, and they increased supply to meet demand? That's a crazy way to run a transit system. Sounds more like one of those customer-oriented businesses. Oh, and how do we get one of those federal grants? That's even better than raising prices.
"Expanding the amount of parking available for bicycles at CTA rail stations encourages more people to combine biking and public transportation as a means of travel and is part of CTA's continued efforts to encourage environmentally friendly transportation," said CTA President Ron Huberman.
The Bay Area has a really cool system called Bike Link. Instead of renting a locker for months, you rent it by the hour for 3 to 5 cents per hour. Last week I was at a meeting where the redesign of the Eastern Market Metro Plaza - now Capitol Hill Town Square - was discussed, and I'd love to see a Bike Link go in there. Metro ought to look at taking a system like this one system-wide, tied to your smartcard.
Finally, I mentioned NYC's bike rack design contest (and DC's too) and from this WSJ story learned that Talking Head and bike advocate David Byrne is one of the judges - and has taken to making his own racks. I like the shoe for the shopping district.
No bike lockers at New Carrollton? I doubt it. The truth is, Metro has no idea which lockers are rented, and which aren't.
I went through a big song and dance with them to get a locker at EFC. It took three months, and, ultimately, I had to involve Chris Zimmerman, who serves on the Arlington and Metro Boards.
A note from Mr. Zimmerman seemed to motivate Metro to give me contact information for a person in the Marketing Department. She helped, but it was apparent that the whole program had been freshly dumped in her lap. It was clear she was not working with an organized system. I picture a manila folder full of contracts and other scraps. There is no evidence that Metro tracks dates, or has any kind of master list of available lockers. The program is clearly bouncing around from desk to desk.
My first locker had a bike in it. After weeks of back-and-forth, I got another locker without a previous tenant.
Metro has no idea whether there are available lockers at their stations. Trust me.
Posted by: ridethewomble | July 28, 2008 at 12:37 PM
I'm not some pro-outsourcing crazy, but maybe that's what Metro needs to do. Outsource the management of their lockers to WABA or Zipcar or someone.
Posted by: washcycle | July 28, 2008 at 02:29 PM
The city of Minneapolis charges for their lockers and related amenities (showers) that Metro doesn't provide. Here's the rate card from their website:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/bikeparking.asp
$10 - key deposit
$30 - Seasonal Locker (Apr 1 - Nov 30)
$50 - Annual Locker
$80 - Seasonal Locker & Shower (Apr 1 - Nov 30)
$100 - Annual Locker & Shower
Posted by: Downtown Commuter | July 28, 2008 at 04:35 PM