Gas is Expensive $4 Edition

In this, our third installment of Gas is Expensive (1 2), we see that high gas prices continue to change the way Americans see bicycles.

MSNBC featured Bike Commuting in its "What Works" segment. (via FABB) And again for its health benefits.

The Post Office, listening to Richard Layman, is starting to add bicycle routes. Now if only UPS can get its act together and get out of the bike lane.

Bike shops continue to talk of a boom.

"With all of that business coming in, we've actually had to hire additional staff," Ron Taylor of Wheel Nuts in Alexandrai said. "We're staying here late, trying to meet customers' demands, trying to get their bikes back to them sooner."

Sales are up, even if the price of bikes sold is down

According to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, the U.S. bicycle industry racked up $6 billion in sales in 2007, including bicycles, related parts and accessories. This year the association expects revenue to stay about the same, despite increased interest in bikes and accessories for commuting. Officials say that's because people are buying less expensive bikes in the slow economy.

Doxsee says his shop is selling 80 to 100 bikes a week, compared with 70 to 80 bikes at the same time last year. Two weeks ago, he said, the shop had its busiest non-sale weekend of this year with 56 bikes sold between Friday and Sunday.

That same weekend, Bicycle Chef Bicycles sold out of its Beach Cruisers, a single-speed bicycle with a coaster brake. Priced between $300 and $400, they're generally designed for riding around town and shorter commutes.

In Chicago they're going to measure it

despite 11,262 public bike racks in Chicago and thousands more in surrounding towns, officials report unflagging demand for bike parking, with designated space at Metra stations and downtowns filled beyond capacity.

Official statistics—those that exist—are too slow to reflect a surge that observers attribute to a swirl of factors, including the perennial benefits of fitness and newer motivations such as gas prices and global warming.

That lack of data may change this summer, said Ben Gomberg, bicycle program coordinator for the Chicago Department of Transportation. He said the city will conduct in-depth measurements of bike traffic on heavily used routes for the first time with French technology that has never been utilized in the United States.

Similar to the thin, road-spanning tubes that are used to collect data on automobile traffic, the new equipment is designed to measure bike tires without being triggered by cars. Officials plan to test the equipment this week, with an eye toward doing all-season, round-the-clock measurements on several city streets.

And Baltimore is trying to accommodate the surge

"I would say the two biggest problems bike commuters have are finding a place to park that is secure and the lack of showers," said Nethercut, the executive director of the Public Justice Center.

Baltimore's Parking Authority might have a solution to the first problem. The agency is considering a pilot program to install a secure parking facility on the first floor of its Baltimore Street garage next to City Hall.

Mayor Sheila Dixon has recently drawn attention to the issue by biking to work - and asking that her department heads do the same. The city's Department of Transportation has added about 20 miles of dedicated bike lanes in the past 15 months.

Transit systems are trying to deal with it

In May, more than 68,000 bikes were loaded onto Broward buses, an increase of nearly 6,000 since March, according to Broward County Transit. The agency did not have comparable numbers on bike ridership for 2007.

But not everyone seems interested in accommodating cyclists. As an example of the NVTA's failure and poor decisions, one writer included that they

Put together a list of transportation projects that was harshly criticized for failing to demonstrate NVTA was serious about tackling regional transportation needs, including “$50 million in scarce regional funds for trolleys, bike trails, sidewalks, parking garages, [and] landscaping.”

New York has been seeing it's cramped bike parking space get more cramped - partly because they limit the places cyclists can park.

Even for those willing to park outdoors, space is limited. Although it is common for people to secure bicycles to signposts or parking meters, Seth Solomonow, a spokesman for the city’s Transportation Department, said that it is a violation of a city ordinance to lock a bike to anything other than a bicycle rack. In addition, many businesses and buildings post signs warning cyclists not to chain their bikes to fences or railings.

Transportation Alternatives estimated that 131,000 people ride bicycles daily in New York City.

Mr. Solomonow said there were about 5,000 bike racks in New York City. In addition, he said, the city has recently installed four special bike sheds — one each in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens — that resemble bus shelters and provide covered space for up to eight or nine bikes. The city expects to have 37 shelters installed at transit hubs by the end of the year.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan for a sustainable future, which he introduced 15 months ago, included provisions to install 1,200 new bike racks by 2009 and to require large commercial buildings to provide bike storage.

Similar measures have been advocated by David Yassky, a city councilman from Brooklyn, who wrote a bill calling for every commercial building in the city to provide bike parking on or near the premises. So far the proposal has not received a hearing.

“The clear majority of office buildings do not permit bicycles,” Mr. Yassky said. “If a company is willing to make room for people to bring bikes in, it makes no sense for the commercial landlord to prohibit it.”

“They work inside these fancy buildings where there’s this inexplicable hostile attitude towards bicycles,” he said. “It’s an arcane policy that says bikes are like the bubonic plague.”

Stay tuned for future editions including a $7 edition in 2010?

Comments

[Jason]

UPS's disregard for bike lanes is not a NYC-only phenomenon, unfortunately:

http://dc.mybikelane.com/post/index/5348

Now DC needs to actually implement the bike-sharing program, and get back on track with painting bike lanes. That and a pedestrian lead interval of a couple seconds would go a long way to increasing safety in the district, which seems to be a bigger concern than bike parking/showers, imho.