11042 replies to this topic

[Bob Fugger]

I just assumed that this was going to be a pitch for publicly funded secure bike parking.  So colour me (sheepishly) impressed when I read, "...paid facilities in current parkades."  Hear, hear!

[Nparker]

...IMO the lack of secure bike parking downtown is now one of the biggest barriers to cycling...

It sounds like there is an opportunity for a private bike parking entrepreneur to make some money.

[nagel]

I just assumed that this was going to be a pitch for publicly funded secure bike parking.  So colour me (sheepishly) impressed when I read, "...paid facilities in current parkades."  Hear, hear!

I have no problem with paying, if it's going to be secure.  I don't think on the street bike rack parking should be paid.

[nagel]

It sounds like there is an opportunity for a private bike parking entrepreneur to make some money.

Yep there are places that have full bike facilities with showers and lockers etc.  It's like a members club but for bike commuters, for those unlucky people who do not work in a Jawl building.

 

The alternative is just wait until the Jawls buy up the entire city and make every building bike friendly.

[Jackerbie]

Yep there are places that have full bike facilities with showers and lockers etc.  It's like a members club but for bike commuters, for those unlucky people who do not work in a Jawl building.

 

The alternative is just wait until the Jawls buy up the entire city and make every building bike friendly.

 

It's not only Jawl, it's just that Jawl tends to be the developer with large new-build commercial buildings. The zoning bylaw has a bicycle parking rate, but it's something like 1 secure long-term stall per 1,600 sq.ft. of office space.

[Nparker]

...The alternative is just wait until the Jawls buy up the entire city and make every building bike friendly.

At which point they would have a complete monopoly and have no need to offer any sort of incentive to attract tenants.

[Bob Fugger]

I have no problem with paying, if it's going to be secure.  I don't think on the street bike rack parking should be paid.

 

I agree, there isn't really any safety or security with off-street bike racks - so what exactly would one be paying for that they couldn't get chaining up to a lamp post?  I mean I guess that someone could make the same argument for cars and on-street parking; however, security is much more moot than for bikes.

 

Not to put words in the mouths of your brethren, but some of them and also some of our ruling class seem to think that it should be free/subsidized to promote uptake in cycling, as evidenced by their vehemence against licensing, registration and insurance.  I don't see why paying for secure parking is OK, but being regulated as other road users is not.

[Victoria Watcher]

pretty hard to see how they would charge for bikes while they give away free electricity in parkades. for evs.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 February 2019 - 03:19 PM.

[Ismo07]

In Vancouver there are now some secure public bike parking facilities at Skytrain stations, with more being added in the future.  Nothing beats a workplace lockup.  We need public solutions too, perhaps paid facilities in current parkades.

 

What would one pay to park a bike in a secure bubble for the day?  I will say very few bikes, I can think of one, have trouble in the City parkades.   Racks are in sight of attendant booths and security.  Also most are at the entrance where people are driving by or walking close.

[Jackerbie]

What would one pay to park a bike in a secure bubble for the day?  I will say very few bikes, I can think of one, have trouble in the City parkades.   Racks are in sight of attendant booths and security.  Also most are at the entrance where people are driving by or walking close.

 

Translink charges $10/mo for the lockers, $1/day or $8/mo for the secure parkades. The service at the Bay Centre that Cassidy mentioned charges $30/mo for the secure parkade and use of the end-of-trip facilities, which I assume include showers and change rooms.

[Cassidy]

Cassidy, IMO the lack of secure bike parking downtown is now one of the biggest barriers to cycling.  My wife works around Quadra and Johnson, and they do not provide secure bike parking at all, and we both agree it's not worth the risk to leave her expensive electric cargo bike out front on the bike rack.  So there's lots of trips that are made by car instead of by bike.  I also choose to not bike at certain times due to the fear of having the bike stolen.  In fact at one bike advocacy meeting another advocate looked out the window and saw my bike (they didn't know it was mine) and said "what idiot would park that bike right there?", and yes, I was watching it like a hawk the entire time.  

 

In Vancouver there are now some secure public bike parking facilities at Skytrain stations, with more being added in the future.  Nothing beats a workplace lockup.  We need public solutions too, perhaps paid facilities in current parkades.

Thanks for that info.

I don't want to overreact and give up entirely on the idea if I'm being stupidly cautious, but I don't want to drop $2K on a bike only to lose it within a month due to lack of secure parking.

 

The issue with electric bikes is also the Lithium batteries, which go for upwards of $600.00 each, and are only held on with a cheap barrel key.

[Cassidy]

What would one pay to park a bike in a secure bubble for the day?  I will say very few bikes, I can think of one, have trouble in the City parkades.   Racks are in sight of attendant booths and security.  Also most are at the entrance where people are driving by or walking close.

Ismo, for the bucks spent to date on bike lanes, wouldn't it represent a wise investment on the part of the COV if they majorly upgraded the bike facilities in the City owned parkades?

Even if the COV charged a fee for those secure services, I'd certainly not hesitate to partake in order to ensure my (potential) bike was still there at the end of every work  day.

 

Open racks at City parkades that are 100% dependent on (a potentially busy) parkade attendant, or a passerby noticing somebody trying to quickly cut a lock off a bike in a City parkade don't quite cut it in an era of $1K and $2K (and up) bikes.

 

Truly secure bike parking downtown (even if paid) in a city with stolen bike ratios as high as Victoria seems like a slam dunk?

[nagel]

I agree, there isn't really any safety or security with off-street bike racks - so what exactly would one be paying for that they couldn't get chaining up to a lamp post? I mean I guess that someone could make the same argument for cars and on-street parking; however, security is much more moot than for bikes.

Not to put words in the mouths of your brethren, but some of them and also some of our ruling class seem to think that it should be free/subsidized to promote uptake in cycling, as evidenced by their vehemence against licensing, registration and insurance. I don't see why paying for secure parking is OK, but being regulated as other road users is not.

Ha is licensing cyclists your best idea on how to turn around your dumpster fire?

[Coreyburger]

Truly secure bike parking downtown (even if paid) in a city with stolen bike ratios as high as Victoria seems like a slam dunk?

 

I highly recommend you join the GVCC and help us advocate for better bike parking! You can sign up http://gvcc.bc.ca/membership/

[Cassidy]

I highly recommend you join the GVCC and help us advocate for better bike parking! You can sign up http://gvcc.bc.ca/membership/

I will point out the link below, leading to a picture in which it would seem that the entire top level of the parkade could be cleverly outfitted with perhaps hundreds of individual, highly secure, monthly rental bike lockers if the COV is genuinely interested in anything more than lip service to those who might seriously consider riding to and from work on a regular basis.

https://www.google.c...m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Heck, it even fits in completely with the anti-car, pro-bike attitude I've been accusing the COV of fostering for the past couple of years!

Edited by Cassidy, 19 February 2019 - 05:50 PM.

[nagel]

Talk to me about our half price membership discount for VV forumers.

[nerka]

Yes, and they do a decent job of finding stolen bikes & returning them to their owners.

My wife recently had her stolen bike recovered by VicPD.  Damaged, but at least returned.

 

Do report to Vic PD and do post your stolen bikes to the Facebook page. The cops look at the FB page and it helps them quickly ID a potential stolen bike

[Cassidy]

Somehow, an integrated infrastructure set up by VicPD to get your bike back after it's been stolen doesn't quite ring as legitimate as some sort of COV/VicPD plan to prevent bikes from being stolen in the first place.

[Danma]

My only comment on the bike accident: I was riding southbound on Harbour road in front of caffe fantastico. Both myself and a car stopped at the stop sign and proceeded to go forward. The car sped up past me until it was about 3 feet ahead, and then whipped into the cafe parking lot, no turn signal, no brakes.

You can blame speed but even though that is a downhill section I might have been going 15 kph. As a cyclist I’m expected to be careful, but by and large all users of the road have an expectation that others follow the rules.

He narrowly missed me by about an inch because as soon as I saw his front tires turn, I braked, screamed at the car and they hammered their brakes realizing that they didn’t see me.

Anyways everyone survived this particular encounter. If I had been hit, that driver would have been 100% at fault. Was I being careful as a cyclist? Yes, and I acted as soon as the driver began his action to protect myself. But it could have easily been my front tire under his wheel.

Cyclists can be careful, drivers can be careful but there are many situations in being careful isn’t enough to save you from an accident.

Aside: It pisses me off when 50% of the comments on the FB post about this bike accident are either ‘can’t pass in the bike lane’ or ‘hurr durr one less cyclists.’ The first group need to retest for their licence, the second group are advocating that cyclists deserve to die for trying to get around. Humans, ugh!

[Victoria Watcher]

so your encounter starts here:

 

https://www.google.c...!7i13312!8i6656

 

you admit the car passed you or "sped up past" you. why didn't you ease up ever so slightly and let it get some distance ahead of you?  maintain your speed to keep it 20 feet ahead of you as a minimum and you have plenty of stopping room.  you say you were going 15kmh maximum so if the car did not continue accelerating up to the 30kmh maximum allowed on that road (that a car continuing on would have likely increased to) was its actions (not accelerating to 30kmh down that hill) not a bit suspect?

 

i'm not blaming you. this incident was not your fault. but perhaps some defensive riding would have mitigated the seriousness of the incident.

 

you are approaching a right turn parking lot access.  a car that has recently passed you and does not appear to be accelerating up to 30kmh is also approaching that potential right turn access.  it has not cleared it or passed it yet. ease up just slightly until he passes it. 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 February 2019 - 07:41 AM.