BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

nope, weren't asked

I realize it's not Bike-Pgh's fault that they weren't asked, but I see a parallel between Whoever not asking, and the now-two-years-running of ACTC not being asked to participate in the Alternative Transportation Festival. (The Allegheny County Transit Council, of which I am a member, is a state-sanctioned organization of transit riders who advise the Port Authority on rider issues.)

Anyway, why is it that People In Charge do not ask for the help of People Who Want To Help And Who Really Can?

That's too bad b/c I was down there tonight and there were plenty of people with bikes....the racks in the parking garage where my friend's car was were pretty full, as were other decent places to lock up a bike. A lot of people just walked thru the Park with them.

They clearly missed the boat on this. Here is a photo from Friday night. There were twice as many bikes behind me and people locked up to trees, parking meters, railings etc.

yeah, i'm making a blog post about bike parking in general tomorrow. i'm going to use your photo if that's ok

Go right ahead!

i figured.

a little snide and sarcastic, but deserved:

http://bike-pgh.org/2009/06/09/bike-parking-at-the-three-rivers-arts-festival-or-the-lack-thereof/

nice.

Erok, I hope you sent this link to some of the TRAF folks. I'm guessing they would be friendly to bicyclists, but that they are, like, asleep or something.

Mick

Actually, they found it on their own and wrote Erok a nice mea culpa. They're trying to address the problem in the short run and work with us in the future to make bike parking a priority for TRAF. Nice work Erok!

just added to the TRAF site:

http://www.artsfestival.net/visitor-information.html

Biking to the Festival

Riding a bike is another great way to reduce your environmental impact and enjoy a beautiful summer day. Trails all over our fair city converge at Point State Park, and many offer trailhead parking lots. Our friends at Bike Pittsburgh have a great bike map, complete with lots of tips for safe city cycling. Friday-Sunday, the Festival will offer a bike corral near the entrance to Point State Park, as well as additional racks near the Portal Bridge. Remember to lock up the right way.

That's pretty impressive.

hey, i was asked to spread this survey around about the arts fest and your experience. you can win free tix if you fill it out. if you don't want to sign in, you need to click "submit anonymously" or something.

http://www.artsfestival.net/2009/06/2009-survey.html

I'm not sure how to word this without it sounding sarcastic, but please realize that that is not my intention. With that said, did Bike Pittsburgh offer to do a bike valet or were they expecting to be asked? I am kind of new to the whole thing, but I do believe that the valet is only a newer addition to (the already productive and helpful) Bike Pittsburgh and maybe the coordinators of TRAF just overlooked it as they were trying to resituate themselves at the point?

That is very impressive.

we've asked in the past years. i understand this year they didn't have the $$ for the actual valet. however, we've notified them in the past about the parking problems at the fest, offered to help consult, and it's never been addressed. This isn't the first time that bike parking has been a problem.

just getting some additional racks would have helped, and wouldn't have prompted the post. the fest could be flooded more than they expected with bikes, but the real problem was that they didn't think about it at all. it's also disappointing that point state park doesn't have any more racks despite spending millions for the improvements.

in the TRAF defense, the org has been turned upside down in the past year, and there has been some huge turnover (which could be good), and the people that we contacted in the past are no longer there. this was also organized in a short time frame, and with that said the festival is pretty impressive.

the thing that irked me most was that they dedicated a half a page to "green transportation" to the fest, claimed to be on the cutting edge of green events organizing, yet didn't mention that you could (or should) bike there.

kudos to them for addressing the waste issue tho.

i should say that i think their willingness to address it (even this late) is a good thing, and maybe means that things are changing a bit.

ok, now im seeing the big picture, thanks!

I saw signs up at the park entrance for "bike parking" to the right as you enter. They had the metal security fencing - like in front of the Hilton - to secure your bike to.

that blog post was hilarious.

also, soo soo soo many events, businesses, etc, talk about being "green" but never mention "bicycle".