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Places that don't give bike access/parking instructions

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  1. Tulyar
    Member

    I asked the Scottish Bike Show if they had considered a 'changing places' truck outside, with any other outside cycling stuff.

    Apparently there is no space outside - its all needed for (implied car?) parking.

    For venues in what is claimed to be a 'public transport' games I am just a bit disturbed by the high capacity connection to the new dual carriageway from the pretty large car park outside the velodrome, and the matching 500 or so car parking spaces in the middle of the roundabout (with a direct walkway link from the Hydro venue - whilst there is less than zilch by way of a walking route to the station at Finnieston (hardly deserves the name Exhibition Centre) less than 100m away .

    You think Auld Reekie is bad - well in the West we're sufficiently reekie to get black marks for air quality, and a huge daily dose of congestion and fumes, despite less than 35% of City households owning cars.

    Unusually though I find the new big Tesco in the old Littlewoods store actually smile at me when I take the Brompton in - aside from Inverness, Tesco's are one of the least bike friendly stores.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I'm off to the Royal Highland Centre tomorrow for a work thing, and having rummaged around on their website - and the event's website - and given HankChief's prior experience I've concluded that they're not interested in anything without an engine and I'll use the motorbike.

    Shame really, as it's the Greenfleet exhibition and I was of a mind to arrive in the torpedo and blow their minds.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. wingpig
    Member

    Vogrie Country Park don't tell you at the main entrance that there are a couple of racks round the back of the house behind the café, nor that you can ride down to it along the road rather than getting off and pushing along one of the footpaths. Fortunately I was preceded by the people who went there in the car who texted me from the café to tell me about the bike racks.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. SRD
    Moderator

    Had to go to Kings College, London, on the Strand today with my folder - carrying heavy panniers needed for work there. No plausible bike parking visible anywhere on the strand. Nothing inside their quad. message saying there is staff and student parking somewhere and that visitors should see security. Security is inside and up some rickety stairs. security refuse to have anything to do with my bike. i then go back downstairs and in main door to take it up in the lift. As I head for the lift, security guy gets urgent call from security office, and refuses to let me in the lift - even folded. much argy-bargy as I cause a scene. eventually security boss says that he will make an exception for me - the one time only.

    have you ever heard of a university - much less one in central london - that has NO public bike parking at all?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  5. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Remarkably, according to OpenStreetMap it seems KCL indeed doesn't have any bike parking. Good call on making a fuss.

    There is apparently a bank of 30 stands to the west though, near Somerset House, which is Government occupied and possibly a bit more clued up, but not necessarily any less officious!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    Racks certainly there last time I was at SH, in completely 'public area' - without minders.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  7. ih
    Member

    @srd This from KCL website under cycling facilities:

    "
    Strand Campus

    No bicycles are permitted to be brought into the building or chained to railings.
    Secure bike parking for students and staff is located on Strand Lane. From Embankment turn into Temple and just before the 'Walkabout' bar turn away from the river and up in to the alley on the back of the campus. 150 bike racks are available, and the facility is open 06.00 to 20.00. To register for access, take your College ID card and complete a form at the Security control room by the main gate. Showers are in the basement as you enter the main building through the bike racks.
    Weekend and evening bicycle parking after 20.00 is provided at the Strand entrance opposite Security. Please note that any bicycles left in this location after 08.30 Monday to Friday will be removed.
    Visitors who are cycling to the Strand campus can park bikes in Westminster council public bike racks. Information can be viewed on Westminster councils website.
    You can read more detail about Strand facilities."

    Does seem rather Draconian and inflexible, especially for visitors.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  8. SRD
    Moderator

    I guess I should have looked that up, but based on all the other London campuses I have visited, I expected some sort of parking. Banning folding bikes from inside the building is just crazy. Why?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  9. gembo
    Member

    Unbridled unfolding and cycling about inside?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  10. SRD
    Moderator

    Did I mention that they run a degree on 'sustainable cities'?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  11. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Banning folding bikes from inside the building is just crazy. Why?

    It would probably ruin the Wilton carpets.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  12. gembo
    Member

    Degree on sustainable cities? Must be largely theoretical?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  13. ih
    Member

    Not sure if there's a better thread to discuss this, but I noticed on the Council website under Residential Bike Parking that when the trial for on-street bike parking is over, they expect to charge for the service.

    "It is expected that in the future there would be charge of around £5 per month for the use of the storage to cover management and maintenance costs."

    Any views anyone?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  14. Blueth
    Member

    Inevitable I would think in these current straitened times.

    I don't say I agree with it nor that (not having seen an example) I think the provision is secure, but then how much would they charge for the provision of "secure" motor vehicle parking?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  15. SRD
    Moderator

    I think it had been planned to be more? £5 a month seems not unreasonable? I didn't realise that fees weren't being charged during the trial period.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  16. neddie
    Member

    £5 mo./£60 pa. seems relatively expensive versus a car parking permit at around £110 pa. for a high polluting vehicle (>180g/km CO2). Especially since a bike takes maybe 1/5 the space of a car.

    Anyway, on the other side of the coin, I suppose they have to charge a reasonable amount to prevent the bike parking from being blocked by abandoned bikes.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  17. SRD
    Moderator

    Sheesh. I thought car parking just be pricier than that!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  18. ih
    Member

    I know that in the wider scheme of things, £60/year isn't huge, but it sends the wrong message and runs counter to policies encouraging wider uptake of cycling. The middle-class might take advantage of the facility, but it is another barrier to active travel for the less well off.

    As @Edd1e_h points out, considering the relative impact on society of cars and bikes, the bike-parking charge vis-à-vis the resident parking fee is to high.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  19. Snowy
    Member

    I think part of the intention was to reduce the incidence of bikes clogging up communal stairwells. However, I don't think the trial has been large enough to determine if that effect occurred.
    A friend who used one of the lockers said it reduced the amount he used his bike, since the locker was a couple hundred yards away. You need them placed at regular intervals.
    £60 is simply the opposite of the sweet spot for charging. Cheap bikes will continue to be dumped in stairwells and fastened to railings. Expensive bikes will continue to be kept inside flats. And given that cars with <100g/km of CO2 are only £34/year for a permit outside the central zones, £60 is a bit steep when you can fit at least 4 of the secure bike boxes in the space one car occupies.
    There may be an argument for recovering the capital and installation costs. But then you get into a discussion about funding, policy and strategic purpose of parking charges, etc. IMHO on-street parking charges should be related to socioeconomic costs and benefits - reasonably secure parking should be encouraged/provided for vehicles which don't pollute, contribute to local economies, boost health and make our streets nicer to live in.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  20. acsimpson
    Member

    I agree that the prices seem a little steep compared to car charges even though the car charges don't guarantee a space. Given the massive subsidies which car drivers receive I would propose that any house without a car should have access to a secure bike space for every occupant free of charge.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  21. SRD
    Moderator

    Not sure if this s the right thread or not. Had to go to Napier's Sighthill campus today, and realised there are no 'public' racks outside their gym/sport hall centre. However there are two secure lockups (one empty). But the good news is that security Volunteered to swipe me into the 'cage' and told us just to ask reception when we wanted out. Very handy to know. And very helpful folks.

    Also easy to get there from the canal, to my surprise. On the way gal, it was rather dark, but we were chummed along by an older gent, which was very pleasant. Had both my lights on 'see' rather than 'be seen' setting and they gave up before we got home tonight as a result.

    Canal was hard going in the dark - much leaf mulch covering the canalpath lights. Also annoying to find canalpath blocked at the new Boroughmuir on the weekend.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  22. gembo
    Member

    @srd, was Keith Cook involved in the middle bit of the story (in the gym). We have been all over to go to his classes, juniper green, Holyrood, Currie. What age range was Napier class for?

    Posted 7 years ago #

  23. SRD
    Moderator

    Fencing competition. Primary ages. Good fun. Nice range of kids.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  24. gembo
    Member

    Yes, Keith cook runs Fencing Fun, lovely chap

    Posted 7 years ago #

  25. SRD
    Moderator

    Gordon?

    Posted 7 years ago #

  26. gembo
    Member

    Keith, also used to be Sean. Classes down broughton high and over at Holyrood too where he also runs the fencing club Salle which is pricey but you can go three times a week (this is going back a couple of years)

    Posted 7 years ago #

  27. SRD
    Moderator

    hmmm..now Gordon - at least for plastic. Spytfyre (formerly/occassionally of this parish) also a devotee.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  28. gembo
    Member

    Ah, plastic, I was talking metal

    Posted 7 years ago #

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