A Good Problem: Parking by permit only

A reader writes in:

The parking area at my office this afternoon:

We’re right across the street from the Hart Senate Office Building, which doesn’t have it’s own bike parking, apparently.

Our racks have been so overcrowded we’ve had to implement a permit system:

The type is small, but the sign on the rack directs guests to park on the racks we (luckily) have closer to the street:

Hopefully our office will replace a car parking space with some more bike parking sometime soon, and maybe eventually the Senate will step up too, but in the meantime it’s nice to see a) the demand for bike parking is so high and b) that so few people in the office drive, even when car parking is available.

There is bike parking in the Hart building according to CityPaper, but clearly not enough.

But despite racks that can hold about five dozen bikes, Boes still needs to get there early. “If I have a doctor’s appointment or something like that in morning and come in 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.

Unlike the 24-7 security at Hart, the bikes locked on sidewalk fixtures outside congressional buildings are left to the elements and the thieves, says Boes, a senior energy adviser to the Senate Agriculture Committee. He has seen several front or rear tires missing from those that didn’t make it into the garage.

Comments

[Bilsko]

fail.

None of the pictures are showing up in your post.
Source code says you're trying to link to them directly on Gmail servers... that's not gonna work.

[Bilsko]

comment was supposed to read "< img >" fail.

[washcycle]

The irony in failing in you fail comment is too good.

I've fixed the photos.

[i hart bike parking]

there is bike parking in Hart! i think they've added another section of racks recently, though i haven't ridden to that part of the parking garage yet. the racks do get rather crowded, which is just a testament to how many people are biking to work. however, judging by the dust on some of the bikes parked there, i think a few folks are using the racks as long-term storage.

my question is, what is someone off the street tries to park at this permit only bike rack?

[El Jefe]

i hart bike parking is right - the Senate did recently add additional bike parking in the Hart garage. It's a few steps further from the entrance and the Capitol Police often park their motorcycles in the same area, but aside from those minor gripes there is now plenty of bike parking in the Hart garage. I heard they also put a rack for employees in the Russell courtyard.

This still does nothing for non-employees who are coming to the Senate for a meeting. There is an outdoor rack near the Russell Building at 1st and C but it's often overcrowded too.

[SJE]

I think that these pictures are Ray LaHood's rebuttal to his congressional critics.

[Colin]

To answer I Hart's question, if you don't have a permit, someone will leave a note on your bike asking you to use the streetside bike parking.

Also worth noting: the racks are empty almost every night. Some of us are just lazy about cleaning our bikes.

And El Jefe is correct, it's not so much the Senate employees as visitors who use the racks. My personal favorite is when the racks fill up with pink bikes - the Code Pink ladies are visiting senators.

[Scott]

I remember seeing a bike with campy on it out front of hart and remember thinking who would leave a 5000 dollar bike locked with a chain outside of..... and then I saw security with a mp5 and thought that bike was safe.