Bike Parking Bill Requires Some Garages, Lots To Take Bikes

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The Bicycle Access Bill requiring commercial landlords to let office workers bring bikes inside office buildings wasn't the only bike-friendly law passed by the City Council last week. Less noticed was Intro. 780, the Bicycle Parking Bill. If signed by Mayor Bloomberg, it will require the operator of every garage and parking lot with a capacity of one-hundred or more cars to provide and maintain parking spaces for bikes. (And in two years, garages and lots with 51 or more spaces will have to provide bike parking.) The law mandates one bike spot for every 10 motor vehicle spots.

But it won't be free: prices for the new bike parking will be left up to the owners to decide. According to DOT Commissioner Janet Sadik-Khan's estimates, the law will eventually create more than 20,000 new bike parking spaces in nearly 1,700 locations, mostly in Manhattan. While there was some concern about creating more situations where cyclists and driversshare limited space, in the end the City Council passed both bills by a vote of 46 to 1, with Councilmember Erik Martin Dilan dissenting. We're waiting to hear back from Dilan about his vote, but it's interesting to note that his district includes Bushwick, an area of Brooklyn quite popular with cyclists. [Via Streetsblog]

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By John Del Signore in News on August 3, 2009 3:12 PM

Comments [rss]

glennQNYC

I'd be concerned this is the groundwork being laid for a future where on-street bicycle parking is as rare as on-street automobile parking during a workday.

Considering the trend lately... I'd say it is completely plauseable to imagine a room full of buracrats thinking "what a great revenue stream to help pay for all the bike-friendly 'improvements' we have made! We can start ticketing and impounding bikes for on-street parking!"

snessnyc

Wouldn't it be great if we had enough bikers in this town that we ran out of sidewalk parking options and people had to use garages?

Dead Himmler

Who the hell still regularly bikes in Manhattan? Please take the MTA.

CR

Who the hell "still" regularly bikes? Sorry, but what year did the whole "Great Bike Explosion of '97" jump the shark?

Dead Himmler

The key word here is REGULARLY bikes. Please use the subway. There is no bike/park /lock problems with the MTA and it cuts down on pollution.

CR

Plenty of people REGULARLY bike to work, which is: A) cheaper than the subway as it is FREE outside of equipment costs, B) can be bike/park/lock problem-FREE if your employer/building manager allows you to bring your bike up and store it in your office (more offices are being built with dedicated bike storage) or you have good enough locks, and C) cuts down on polution even more as you are using almost no energy outside of what you provide.

Also, you'll save on gym costs.

Dead Himmler

You are wrong on all points. It costs the envornment tragic losses just make 1 bicycle. Not cheaper than the subway when you have to buy the bike. Also it will be likely that the bike operator will be injured at one time or another which will result in huge medical costs while tying up our already overtaxed healthcare system. If you bike to work you need to take another shower thus using more precious envoronmental resources. Please use the subway. It's safe, cheap and mother earth friendly.

CR

Tragic losses to make a bicycle vs. the fuels needed to constantly run a train (even when no one is aboard?) A train is *not* mother-earth friendly, it's just more efficient than a car...

And everyone who rides a bike will be injured at one time or another!?! And this will overtax our healthcare system!?! WTF?!? Are ER's in NYC running practice drills on how to remove spokes from people's flesh?

And when you get to work you need to take *another* shower? Clearly you're a shvitzer DH, but don't project that onto everyone else.

Where are you getting this stuff from?!?

Also, a subway is not cheap. You can buy a bike, keep it in good working condition for 10 years, along with a lock - total... let's say $400. That's cheaper than riding the train for 10 years? Metrocard is $80 buck a month or so... multiply by 12 = 960. Multiply by 10 years = $9600. Clearly a bike will save you a *lot* more money. And before you balk, my friend road a bike *everyday* for 9 years and 7 months before it died. The manufacturer (Bianchi) gave her a new one for free as it was under the 10 year warranty. So there you go - projected 20 years on one bike for $400.

What, do you own stock in the MTA or something???

Brooklyn

DH must have reached his breaking point pressed against the glass on an overcrowded D train stalled on the Manhattan bridge, watching cyclists on the bike path zoom downhill.

whitecastlerock

A sucker is born ever minute in this town-there are some idiots who will pay to "park" their bikes in a garage.

BotanistPrime

I would definitely rather have more bike racks on the street than have to ride into a questionably safe garage and have to pay $$$.

It would also really depend on where the bikes are in the garage. If they are in sight of the attendant that would be nice. Otherwise I think the garage would just provide cover for bike thieves to steal parts off my bike.

The Hanger-On

Boy, did consumer demand really beat the city government here!

Manitoba

Echoing some of what weenie has to say:

a) How would this be enforced?

b) How much would be charged, and would it be worth it to pay $10/day to park a bike?

c) Why is the city council wasting so much time on this? Instead, build more bike racks.

I imagine that garages will be forced to do this, charge too much, and then nobody will ever use them. So, garages will be left with lots of unused, wasted space, eventually passing on the lost funds to cars.

twain809

I think an economist will have a field day with this situation. Car park owners want to maximize income, so it'll be interesting to see if this includes charging for bike spaces at prices that people will be willing to pay...

CR

Wasted space? Not if you hang the bikes from the ceiling or the wall, which is currently completely wasted space in most garages.

Manitoba

That's a good point, but I don't know if the law means bikes will be hanging from the ceiling. What is the ratio of available bike spaces required?

weenie

I looked into parking my bike in several garages earlier this year after the building I worked in told me I had to have my bike out of the building by 5PM (who in NY gets out of work before 5PM?!). I found most of the garages a) shady, b) not safe to walk in and out of since they are designed for cars and c) not willing to charge a reasonable rate to keep the bike there. at least this is a step in the right direction.

the problem is more about riders not locking their bikes up properly which invites somebody to steal the bike in the first place; there is ample parking all around the city, just think twice before you lock it up and how you lock it up.

CR

I'm going to throw in here and say that there isn't ample bike parking around the city. In some areas it's downright impossible to find a bike rack to lock your bike to, and street signs, especially the thin-metal v-shaped variety, (which are always a second choice to a bike rack or one of the thick circular variety of street signs,) are scarce.

Very valid point about garages being not well lit and not inviting to move around it. Maybe owners will get the message and we'll start to see garages advertising their lighting, locking facilities, and security for bikes and their owners.

Also right about bikes not being locked correctly. However, most people just don't get it, and you can usually see their faces go blank when you try and explain it.