BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I have a contact at PPA. I'll try to contact them about a possible donation. Thanks for getting the word out on the bikes and possible removal.

Has anyone noticed similar tags at any of the other PPA garages downtown?

I didnt see any in the Penn garage yesterday. I was talking to some guys at work here and they mentioned that the third st garage was right by point park college and I have to wonder if these bike are the students and they have been keeping them there.

I noticed a bunch outside the small Pitt police substation on Forbes. They all looked dumpster worthy to me, but there may be a gem or two mixed in.

It's not uncommon for college students to abandon bicycles at the end of the school year. That's the main reason that UC Davis instituted its bike registration program, fwiw. I think it's plausible that some of these were abandoned by PP students. I usually park in the Forbes garage, and the rack there is almost always emptied out at night.

I noticed the tags a few days ago myself. Those bikes have been there forever. It will be nice to get some more space as it can get pretty tight there sometimes.

I feel it is rare that a bike is dumpster worthy. Surely there is someone who could use some of the components, if not the whole bike.

free Ride shoud be the one making that determination.

Maybe 10 years ago there was a long dumpster full of bikes down behind Phipps. I spent a bit of time there pulling parts off, many that went to Free ride.

I don't know why this pops into my head, but does anyone do any work with shelters like Light of Life on the North side or other? It seems like if you had a bunch of 90% functional bikes, it would be cool to get some to people who are trying get their shit back together and need a way to get around. Not to mention the physical benefits. I would be willing to pitch in and get some bikes to 100%. Dumpstering a bike is just evil.

These bikes had bent rims, no seats, missing/rusted drivetrain components, broken cables, all on a huffy frame. I'm not sure what you would salvage out of that. Not trying to be a snob, but at some point you should probably give up on the bike that was hardly a bike to begin with. That, or weld it into a tall bike.

"...or weld it into a tall bike."

That is exactly what I was thinking.

I don’t think the city throws the bikes in the dumpster. The Pgh police used to save up all the unclaimed bikes and take them to Kraynick’s. Jerry goes over them and fixes anything for cheep. Then sometime around Christmas the Police invite children who don’t have a bicycle to the police station to pick one out.

Here's the response from the Parking Authority:

...Back in April I received several complaints from guests that ride their bicycles daily and have a hard time finding a place to lock their bikes up due to bikes that have been left for long periods of time. At that time, I hung 3 signs in the bicycle area stating that any bikes left longer than 30 days would be removed without information on file regarding their disposal. At the end of May, I tagged seven bikes with a small tag around the spoke with the date to identify whether the bikes had been moved. About a week and a half ago, I stapled a notice to all bikes that had not been moved that if the bike was not moved by August 11, 2010 that it would be removed. As of this time six of them have never been moved and one was moved to another spot back in May and has not been moved since. I have been in contact with Bill Conner to insure that it was okay to move the bikes.

Our plan is to remove all bikes that have not been moved and chain them in the basement of the garage. We will hold them for a period of six months in the basement and then will dispose of them. At this time, no direct plan for where the bikes will be sent after the six months has been set in place but we will keep in mind the programs listed below (Free Ride and the City Police donation program mentioned by Greasefoot in an earlier post....).

Speaking of which, there's an abandoned-looking bike at the racks by the river rescue center (by PNC Park). Anyone know what's up with that? It doesn't seem to have gone anywhere in weeks.

Well I hope that atleast go to a good home. That is all I care about.

The Parking Authority has not, until this inquiry, done a lot of thinking about long term disposition of these bikes. We've offered them ideas. I am almost certain they will follow up on the Free Ride or the Police donations for kids program, when the time comes.

(Actually, thaty's just my guess as to how far ahead they had thought this through for....I have no actual knowledge of their long term plan, but they have indicated they are open to suggestion.)

This is an eminently reasonable action by the PPA.

Seems like they're following a reasonable procedure, that's reassuring.

JZ, I rode by it again today.. definitely missing a tube form the back tire and the left pedal.. so its obviously unrideable

Then sometime around Christmas the Police invite children who don’t have a bicycle to the police station to pick one out.

When was that, the 1920s?

As I recall, this has happened annually for the past 2 years if not longer. I kept meaning to get some kids bikes I rescued to them.

Did you question the police giving away bikes or did you mean when did a kid not have a bike?

The program has been going on for several years, at least. I've collected at least a dozen bikes from neighbors, co-workers, etc and delivered them to Kraynick for review and revival. I think I've collected for the program for the last three years. Last year I posted on this board that they were running into a problem with the matching helmet requirement. Kids under 12 must wear a helmet, so to give a bike without a helmet isn't sending the greatest message. So, they were looking for donations of helmets or cash for helmet acquisition. Of course, all helmets had to be new, in original packaging, to avoid any potential liability issues associated with "gently used" helmets. Actually, I think the actual "gifting" occurs at a holiday party thrown by the housing authority, or some other agency. I don't think the kids are brought to the station to get their bike.....

I don't think it's an official City of Pgh policy with unclaimed bikes. I believe it's just a group of officers in zone 5 and the housing authority that organize the bike give away every year. I'm not sure how long they have been doing it and they don't make a big public announcment when they give out the bikes, but the midia has shown up to cover it the last few years. I just recall one year seeing all the bikes lined up in the zone 5 station parking lot...I guess it's now a holiday party...

There's a free kids helmet program that goes until August, I think.

http://www.examiner.com/x-34903-Pittsburgh-Elementary-Years-Parenting-Examiner~y2010m5d27-Howto-get-a-free-bike-helmet-for-a-child

So, wait... This means we can still lock up our bikes Downtown without a sticker, as long as we don't leave them there for more than, what, 30 days?

Rob proposed an abandoned bike task force last year, but I don't know if anything came of it. Discussed here: http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/abandoned-bike-1

Gerry's kids' bikes program has gotten some media attention in the past:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09313/1011904-140.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08311/925595-94.stm

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_566521.html

I saw some kind of city truck at Kraynick's (not sure if it was police or public works, or maybe another department) with a bunch of bikes, with what appeared to be city employees unloading them into the store about two months ago.

IHeartPgh also has a write-up mentioning this, and it seems there's probably some official contact there with the police: http://iheartpgh.com/2008/11/06/donate-bikes-for-kids/

Parked my bike in the third st garage this morning, lots of open spaces now. saw them taking the bikes away as I locked mine up.