Bike Parking ( BP) Issues
I don;t know which (if any existing) group is interested in bike parking [ BP] facilities, in all their glorious and inglorious manifestation across SA ....but I wonder if there is any publicity - or appreciation from us cyclists ! - for the ? new? **on-street** racks in Pirie Street ?
When I saw these during one of my now rare visits to the CBD last week, I thought I was hallucinating, as it seems the Council have removed some **car** parking, and replaced it with racks for several bikes right on the street space. Which is : out of the way of pedestrians and right where a *vehicle* belongs. The space is protected by a pair of heavy stainless bollards, so the bikes parked there will not be vulnerable to reversing trucks etc as those at Gawler Place are. It must have cost a motzer, of course ...and as it's near Council HQ, it may be a manifestation of the Demonstration Syndrome rather than a serious committment to "equal treatment " of bikes and cars...
For those with long memories of the [casual] BP issue in the CBD in particular, it has been a dream of "vehicular cyclists" to get parking onto the street ( ie away from the footpath) as a way to reinforce the message that bikes are indeed serious vehicles rather than mere accessories for pedestrians ... these "on street" racks are a a great advance on the "temporary" ones that were once ( but no longer ?) installed for events like the Fringe in Rundle Street
for what it's worth, it's been a continual problem to make clear the distinction between "casual" BP and " secure" [ generally lock up, or caged ] "permanent" BP, which is usually a workplace issue. My experience has been that few people, including committed cyclists, recognise these as separate ( if slightly related) issues. In my opinion, we spend far too much cyclist thinking time, and lobbying energy, on "permanent" BP issues and generaly neglect "casual" BP. For example, do we have a list of CBD sites lacking "casual" facilities ? I'd nominate the Medicare office in Currie Street, which has high pedestrian visitation, but no-where reasonably close to BP. Considering how the Council has recently showered rails across the city, there are surprising omissions.
Outside the CBD too, there are some shocking omissions, such as the ABC at Collinswood, where despite good facilities for the BP'ing staff, the [ casual] bicycle visitor needs to lock up in the gardens ..damaging the vegetation in the process, and degrading the image of the bicycle as a legitimate transport vehicle.
Grateful your ideas.....
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by heather on -
When Bicycle Fish brought this to the notice of Prospect BUG, I wrote re his complaint to the ABC Collinswood on 30 October 2009. No response but I tried. At 24 February 2010 you had not written.
I have been writing to Prospect Council between November 1994 and November 2009, seeking suitable bicycle parking. Plus requesting that the council includes in its development plan and individual commercial applications the requirement of suitable bicycle parking, in keeping with Austroads. No success.
Over the years I have contacted ACC re casual bicycle parking.
In 1996-7 I did a major study project titled Adelaide City Bicycle Parking and Theft. I liaised with ACC and SAPOL.
Cycling advocacy is a slow process.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Powrie on -
Grace,
BISA was consulted about this by the ACC early (I think) in 2009. We responded understandably with some enthusiasm although we were quick to point out a number of qualifications we felt necessary in the interests of safety, security and convenience. I haven't actually seen the on-road (or is it 'in car space') parking facilities so I can't comment on how successful they are. I think your call for a consumer evaluation is an excellent idea - the ACC needs all the encouragement it can get for such innovations. BISA would be happy to collate responses made on A/C and foward them to the ACC. Incidentally, I thought there were going to be two such parking zones - I can't recall where the other one was to be located.
And on the subject of bike parking at the ABC, I wonder if it's realistic or appropriate for a Council to provide the sort of parking that such a large 'trip generator' might need? I note that both the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and DTEI's depot on Richmond Rd now provide excellent bike parking on their own property independent of anything provided outside by Councils. Personally I think planning legislation should require this of all large 'trip generating' destination buildings and complexes.
Sam Powrie,
BISA, V/Chairperson.
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Permalink Reply by Bicycle Fish on -
"...on the subject of bike parking at the ABC, I wonder if it's realistic or appropriate for a Council to provide the sort of parking that such a large 'trip generator' might need? .."
I didn't mean to suggest any local govt should have to provide BP at large institutional sites, just that this was an example of the lack of *casual* BP even when "staff" BP is provided ( as I believe it is at ABC Collinswood). It seems an irony that even when staff are considered, "casual" visitors to such sites may not be, and everyday bicycle use is thereby diminished - the "Car Park Caper" ( in a car park (!) with no BP) is a prime illustration.
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Permalink Reply by Bicycle Fish on
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Well, I just uploaded two pictures of the Pirie St installation ( which appear as "attachements" that you have to click on to view...). Contrary to my earlier description, the bollards are NOT Stainless steel [ which would be ruinously expensive to repair/replace when damaged, as they inevitably will be !] but instead cheap plastic pipe with a wobbly base : I suppose the idea is to *alert* the car driver as they reverse into their place, rather than damage the car as a solid bollard would do. Come to think of it, a very solid bollard would be a general hazard in that place, so it's better it's NOT as solid as I naively first thought.
It's interesting to note that it appears that an on-street "casual bike parking " [CBP] place has a larger footprint than one on the footpath, due to the need to provide buffer space when considering the nature of reversing car drivers. In the photo, you can see there is quite a bit of dead space at each end. Perhaps there will be improvements in time. Still, I like it if it gets bikes off the footpath and onto the road, where vehicles belong, even if that's sometimes less cozy for bike riders, even for me..!
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Permalink Reply by Wendy Riemens on -
I've seen another one in Rundle St and I think they are great. It took years to get some decent BP at the Central Markets and that's still only in front of the Grote St entrance. The back of the ANZ building (Waymouth/King Williams) has got some good spaces but they seem to be mainly used by people who work in the building. Really, local shopping centres should have at least one of those metal stands but the one that was at Hilton has been removed. On a positive note, I was very pleased to see the racks in front of the Entertainment Centre on Saturday night and they were well used. Dressed up to see the Mahler concert and parking right in front of the entrance. Excellent! The city of Victoria on Vancouver Island (BC, Canada) has got some excellent examples and I wish I'd taken photos to show you. They were undercover (due to their rainy weather not a luxury) and in front of shops such as MEC, an outdoor shop. I think MEC had contributed to some of the cost but it fitted their philosophy. Well done ACC to assist with safe BP!
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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I was in Adelaide BUG before it expired. We sought and got some extra parking near Central Market. I would guess that some vendors did not like it, because a large rail was lifted up and out of its concrete base, as though helped by machinery / vehicle. It was a while before the current bicycle parking was installed in a new paved area.
We succeeded in getting bicycle parking in Gouger Street outside a coffee place, where a friend and I often enjoyed a coffee on a Friday evening. We could watch our panniers and goods. Then the bicycle parking disappeared to make way for more coffee tables. We voted with our bicycles and found another outdoor coffee place with bicycle parking.
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Permalink Reply by Angus Kingston on -
Bike parking doesn't have to be boring either. When I first saw this at the Lochiel Park 'eco village', Campbelltown, I thought how funny it was to see bikes chained up to public artwork but then I found out they are actually bike locking facilities!
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Permalink Reply by Angus Kingston on
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Or this one from NYC
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Permalink Reply by Bicycle Fish on
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Wel, I haven't seen this one myself, so I haven't tried it either. I goota say tho, I find this sort of facility off-beam, in that it doesn't LOOK like a bike park , any more than a lot of other structures do, which AREN't bike parks ! So, I wouldn't intuitively use it to park, I'd have to look elsewhere - and I guess this IS the ONLY bike park provided at this location ...?
On the other hand, if this sort of rail is used, the outcome of this "anything goes" approach is to encourage *irregular* bike parking, which creates hazards especially for visually impaired people as well as emergency access points ( eg fire hydrants). It also militates against a systematic approach to providing *everyday* bike facilities on a *predictable* basis.It's predictability that will best encourage mass cycling ( well , before the Oil Collapse, anyway !)
Oh , on the matter of visually impaired people and bikes : sighted people may not realise how important *predictability* is to vision impaired, as these people need to *memorise* the stret layout - which for them is a very difficult environment at the best of times, made worse by obstacles like carelessly parked bikes, wheelie bins , cafe tables ...when you think of the bicycle in blind person's terms, it's a tripping hazard, full of sharp points, it's unstable & likely to fall over when unattended, and it's greasy...as cyclists, we are supposed to be part of the solution, not part of someone else's problem..
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Permalink Reply by Brigitte on
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Hi, I have found the bike parking in most of the UPark carparks very useful and under utilised. Not only are these bike parks often free, they are also undercover. There is no charge although some of them have lock up facilities which you can purchase for $11 per month.
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Permalink Reply by Angus Kingston on
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I made an approach to the ABC in Collinswood (where as some of you know I work) and I pointed out the comments made by Bicycle Fish.
The manager of the ABC wrote to me this week to let me know she was more than happy to take on the idea. A plan for some bike parking places at the front of the building for the public to use when visiting the ABC (and the SA Office of the Public Advocate) will go ahead very soon.
A nice win.
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