BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

This was on Morning Edition on NPR this morning...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112449158

here's the gist. You can follow the link above for the whole story, or to hear the story as it aired.

I thought it was relevant, given the Hearing here yesterday on the Bike Parking Ordinance.

September 2, 2009

Just outside Washington, D.C.'s central train station, construction is under way on a sleek, modern, glass-and-metal bike garage.

"Some people say it's a half-football or a shell," says Mazen Soueidan, the project manager. "It has four sides [with] scalloped shells that overlap."

Once completed, the Bikestation will hold 130 bikes, lockers and a small shop for repairs. Located next to the Metro subway exit at Union Station, the system will provide secure bike storage for commuters who want to cycle through Washington once they arrive from "feeder" cities like Baltimore.

But if you lock your bike to a parking meter, you might come back to find it's missing a seat or wheels, or it's just gone. Soueidan says theft was an issue even while building the bike garage.

"The superintendent actually had his bike here once and he didn't lock it, he was just gone for five minutes — and we actually saw the bike take off," he said.

In addition to security, the idea is to reduce traffic and encourage exercise — and there's some evidence to suggest that it works. An annual survey of Bikestation users in California has shown that 30 percent previously commuted by car.

"This is a monumental paradigm shift for the typical American," says Don Paine of Washington's KGP Design Studio, lead architect on the design.

Set to open in October, the Bikestation will require either an annual membership or a daily usage fee.

John Ciccarelli of Bicycle Solutions in San Mateo, Calif. says "What's growing is acceptance that the bicycle is a mode of transportation as well as recreation," he said.

Levered arms inside the bike garage allow bicycles to be stored one on top of the other.