BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

First of all, love the concept, love the fact that it is almost ready for use.

But - is $100 per year a reasonable rate? For many of us it is - especially if it means I can be slightly less meticulous in my removal of "extras" from my bike when I park it. I figure if I commute 2x per week (about my average)from April through October (again about my average) this will cost me $2 per day. That seems reasonable to me.

I just spoke with the Property Manager at Trek Development Group. She was surprised to be getting phone calls on this already, and asked that folks hold off until Monday to call her asking for information/reservation forms, etc. So she can be sure she has the right paperwork/processes/etc.

She appreciates your interest and cooperation.

wow. yeah, even if you don't want one of the paid indoor ones, it seems that parking in one of their free outdoor spaces is probably safer than just about any other rack in town anyway.

speaking of which, there's a gallery crawl tonite, and i bet that would be a great place to lock up

errr. next friday i mean

If I worked downtown I would consider it.

Erok (and others); the covered outside (short term) racks are available for use now. You just can't get a reserved spot in the secure parking yet.

This is located directly opposite Bossa Nova. There is a parking garage entrance there. As you face the parking garage entrance, the brightly painted containers/bike parking are on the left.

The short term covered parking is between the secrue parking containers and the entrance to the parking garage. I've seen a few bikes parked there already.

I cant believe this is happening here. Like for real for real?

Anymore in the works in other areas of the city/county?

It is cheaper than Pitt's bike lockers!

We've been trying to talk local developers, Green Building Alliance and others into it, but no takers so far. It seems a shame, as they could cover the costs of individual lockers or quasi-secure parking like this through rental fees, as Trek Development is doing here, or could amortize the cost as a general site development cost. Either way, the out of pocket cost for construction is minimal. It's the operational element that seems to have most people scared off.

Regarding the cost, I think it's completely completely reasonable if you work somewhere where you might otherwise have to lock your bike outside.

Are there plans to leave any secured spaces open and charge a day/hour rate (debit card like redbox?)for those who would only use it occasionally?

Although a good idea, it would be difficult to pull off with the current technology (key fob). if it were a guest-key code you had to punch in that changed every day and was linked to a cc number that might work. acquiring and returning a key fob on a daily basis seems difficult to coordinate w/o increasing costs while also decreasing the level of security.

In Paris, the Vélib' bike rental system prints out a paper receipt for its 24-hour memberships. They have a code and that gets you access to a bike for the duration of your rental. I imagine the monthly or annual subscriptions have an easier interface (key fob or proximity card) since it's kind of clumsy to enter in a seven-digit code each time you want to take out a bike.

I like this! I used to work at a restaurant Downtown, and was allowed to bring my bike inside.. but I had to bring it down a set up sketchy steps, through a massive slippery kitchen filled with cooks, hot things, sharp things.. it was rad to bring it in, but it would have been nice to have a good place to lock it up (even if it was a little bit of a walk) along with other bikes. There were tons of meters outside the restaurant I worked at, but I'd always bring it in anyway, even on nice days, 'cause it was better than leaving my lonely bike very close to the street, where there happened to be endless construction, delivery vehicles, car doors flying open all the time, foot traffic, etc.

I probably wouldn't pay for the shipping container myself, but I would TOTALLY lock my bike up to one of the outdoor racks near the container. I like the social aspect of it, 'cause I could oogle other cyclists and their rides pre and post-work. I like that the racks are away from the street, and I totally believe in safety in numbers. Even though I'm not Downtown much anymore, I can't wait to see how this works out.

Prediction: Someday, somehow, this will be tied into Port Authority's soon-to-be-made-public permanent farecard system. (You should be seeing new fareboxes Real Soon Now, and farecards by the end of the year.)

I wonder how much revenue they'll get from college graduates actually being made to pay for buses.

StuInMcCandless, that would be sweet if this sort of thing could become part of their long term plans. Racks on every bus and secure bike parking throughout the city.

while i think this is a cool idea, i can't help but wonder how cool it will be in the middle of summer when it's 120 degrees inside those things.

Stu, I just saw this page about the fareboxes: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10019/1029241-147.stm?cmpid=news.xml

I've used the WMATA's farecard system for a while now and have been wondering when Pittsburgh would catch up.

Would the Port Authority take these over in that case?

bump. Well, it does have two wheels

Ha ha. How do those wall racks work?

I wouldn't mind the motor, but must it be sideways, taking up 4-5 slots?

How do those wall racks work?

The very top part is a hook, so you'd hang your bike and then lock it to the loop I guess.

The one problem I have with those particular wall racks when I tried to use them.. the loop to which you are supposed to attach your lock seems toofar forward so you would only be able to attach your lock to your front wheel. At least with my mini U-lock. I guess I could hang it from the back wheel, but still just seems like it should be farther down.. more midbike. I just lock to the 3rivers racks when I lock there. Also, that motorcycle does still park there, but doesnt park sideways anymore.

Also, that motorcycle does still park there, but doesnt park sideways anymore.

I took that picture today, March 11, 2010. So he still parks sideways. But, there were no bikes there so that point may be moot.

March 12 actually...