disappearing parking meters and the local economy

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 9, 2009 at 6:45am

Yes!!!! I like this direction. Keep the ideas coming!

h3 said:

jamimaria said:

If a business owner wanted to install a rack on the sidewalk outside of their business, what kind of permit do they need to get?

Maybe the artistic bike rack program could be like that Globe project a couple of years ago? Or the Pigs on Parade that Seattle did? Businesses could install artistic, functional bike racks and it would look good for the city as well.

I'd want to get together and talk about this! Definitely!

I like where this is going (although my cynical side thinks that might result in a bunch of racks for N. Michigan Ave. and screw the rest of the city). Also think about culturally aware bike racks tailored to different parts of town. My initial bikerack WTF moment was in Chinatown in December-- you could have a rack representing the different years (pig, rat, monkey etc.) or resembling big dragons . . .
in Wrigleyville or Bridgeport baseball references; mucho possibilities for Pilsen, Andersonville, boystown, etc . . .

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Permalink Reply by igz on June 9, 2009 at 9:23am

i had "drafted" a few ideas, all aligned with the ideas popping up here. Neighborhood specific ones are perfect - like a mayan pictogram in pilsen, baseball mit around the bball parks, or better yet...harry caray, viking ships around andersonville, a beer stein in lincoln square.

Maybe even get local high school participation in designs for school/neighborhood specific racks to help encourage students to ride to their school.

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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on June 10, 2009 at 3:51pm

Hey everyone,

The meeting went well on Monday. We're still working out what we can and cannot say...because Active Trans is a contractor on CDOT's bike parking, we have some info that only contractors would have.

The news should be pretty good with some actionable steps.

We should be able to post something tomorrow, sorry about the delay.

Ethan Spotts with Active Trans

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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on June 12, 2009 at 9:52am

Here's a blog response I just posted. I've cut/pasted it below since it's relevant to this thread.

Rob Sadowsky
Executive Director

http://www.activetrans.org/blog/rsadowsky/parking-meter-update

Parking Meter Update

I wanted to give an update after our Director of Planning, Carolyn Helmke, and I met with the City of Chicago on the issue of parking meter removal affecting bike parking. The scope of the problem is that between 25,000 and 30,000 racks are currently in process of being removed under the current contract. The meeting was generally good and it is clear that the City is working hard to hold on to meters and replace meters with racks wherever appropriate. The big issue is funding of any manufacturing and installation of new racks and of retrofit options for converting parking meter poles into bike racks. Yes, it would have been great if the funds were built into the existing contract for meter removal. However, the reality is that they were not and in today’s economic environment where the City is rumored to lay of 1,000 employees in the next few weeks, it is hard to imagine the missing pot of gold turning up to save the day.

Where does this leave us? The City recommitted to leaving one parking meter for every six that are removed. This would leave more than 4,000 meters. The City is currently testing various bike rack devices that can be permanently attached to parking meters poles. When the best design is identified, the City hopes implement this solution in 2010. Secondly, 500 – 750 underutilized racks may be relocated to areas affected by meter removal.

There was discussion about placing a cover on the meters that remain that would identify these meters as bicycle parking locations either by stenciling something additional on the green hoods, or by adding signs. As the racks or meter retrofits become available, they will replace the hoods. Additional possibilities include working with aldermen to add funds from their discretionary infrastructure resources to match funds the City already has at its disposable. Chambers of Commerce and SSA’s can assist in these matters if they are inclined. Both of these are great ideas and members can help with encouraging this activity.

The City has also asked us to help with to things:

1. When meters are removed and aren’t replaced with bike parking (racks or a meter pole retrofit), let us know. Send the location (as close to a street address as possible) to meters@activetrans.org and we will forward to the City’s Department of Transportation. You can also call 311 and make this request.

2. If you are already missing bike parking because of the removal of parking meters, call 311 and tell us about it at meters@activetrans.org

What are some next steps? The City has some work to do to identify resources for a long-term solution. All of this will likely get reported to the quarterly Mayors Bicycle Advisory Council. These meetings are open to the public. More info about these meetings can be found at http://www.chicagobikes.org/.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by payton on June 12, 2009 at 11:09pm

iggi said:

am i over-optimistic?

unfortunately, I'd have to say yes. I serve on a local commission that wanted to place, at our cost and with our labor and maintenance, ten recycling bins along sidewalks in Wicker Park. (we considered commissioning a design, but went with a stock design to save time.) it has taken over TWO YEARS to get this simple request through the city bureaucracy, but they will happen this summer. even if CDOT were in the lead on a "custom racks" project, I can't see it happening very quickly at all owing to the amount of coordination necessary (designers, fabricators, communities, etc.). the standard racks are battle-tested and pretty cheap, since they're bought in bulk.

that said, businesses can put whatever they want -- on their property. I'd certainly entertain proposals to put custom racks around Wicker Park, if people want a testbed.

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Permalink Reply by payton on June 12, 2009 at 11:29pm

Active Transportation Alliance said:

If you are interested pushing these asks to a higher level by calling your alderman to ask them to explore specific creative funding sources for bike parking such as TIF’s, SSA’s or aldermanic infrastructure budgets

although, y'know, as an SSA commissioner (what I was talking about above), it's a little annoying to suddenly have to step in to be the savior -- when there are much cheaper and more obvious solutions, like leaving the dang poles in place. worse yet, they're being removed in such a way that anyone who, in the future, wants to put something there will have to dig out the remaining half of the meter pole first.

h3 said:

Wow, that's big of you. I was dreading the thought of having to ask someone to make that sacrifice.

Howard, the snark is not appreciated. I'm saying that I can get money (tax money! and not your tax money, mine!) to pay for racks if people want to put together a proposal.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 13, 2009 at 7:23am

Very cool. Not my SSA, so I don't have a say in that piece of the pie, but it's certainly a place where I and plenty of folks on this forum patronize neighborhood businesses by bike. Anyone got some proposal ideas for Wicker Park?

payton said:

Active Transportation Alliance said:

If you are interested pushing these asks to a higher level by calling your alderman to ask them to explore specific creative funding sources for bike parking such as TIF’s, SSA’s or aldermanic infrastructure budgets

although, y'know, as an SSA commissioner (what I was talking about above), it's a little annoying to suddenly have to step in to be the savior -- when there are much cheaper and more obvious solutions, like leaving the dang poles in place. worse yet, they're being removed in such a way that anyone who, in the future, wants to put something there will have to dig out the remaining half of the meter pole first.

... I'm saying that I can get money (tax money! and not your tax money, mine!) to pay for racks if people want to put together a proposal.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 1, 2009 at 6:55pm

Brian - It does seem that it's incomplete information, but it's something. The other info can be useful.

Howard - Thanks for your CCM post with a link to a relevant article.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 16, 2009 at 6:49am

WBEZ ran an insightful and amusing commentary piece on the subject of disappearing parking meters and bike parking the other day.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 16, 2009 at 7:04am

I did a test look-up in a few different zip codes: 60643 (Beverly/Morgan Park), 60626 (Rogers Park), 60615 (Hyde Park), 60622 (Wicker Park/Bucktown/etc.), 60601 and 60603 (Loop). Each of those areas had rack installations in 2008, the most recent of which was last October.

I don't know how often this data is being entered in the system. I just did a test search for bike rack installations with no specified zip code, and it listed one in June 2009 in Jefferson Park (60630). In the "about this section" info, it gives update frequency as "sporadic."

Does anyone know of another location where racks were definitely installed this year to test this? There are a lot of dates more recent than 2002 showing up, just not in Pilsen/Little Village.

Brian Kennedy said:

H3, I believe from reading past posts, you are in Pilsen/Little Village. I looked-up both neighborhoods and I see that they show no action on bike racks since 2002. That's frustrating. Hopefully you can get stolen bikes on the site along with updated bike rack info. I wonder what the source of their bike rack info is; city records, end-users? They have a good site already and are on the verge of great (in my opinion) if they could add the stolen bikes and bike rack installations.
h3 said:

Anne Alt said:

Brian - It does seem that it's incomplete information, but it's something.

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Permalink Reply by Davo on July 16, 2009 at 10:30am

Here's an Idea, All be it a silly one, what if instead of removing the meters, they just left them and use them as donation collectors for bike racks and stuff bike related. The "meters" would need to be marked clearly so drivers wouldn't think that they are paying for parking. I think this would be an innovative way to generate funding for bike related things. It wouldn't be mandatory to feed these meters to lock up your bike, but I know I would toss in some change here and there to further our cause. Its probably not the solution but I think it would assist in funding.

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Permalink Reply by Gin on July 16, 2009 at 3:50pm

Thanks to everyone for all the organizing so far. Here is a link to an overview of bike parking considerations--perhaps useful for folks interested in creative designs that still provide security and stability. http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/engineering/parking.cfm

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