The Chainlink

Why does Chicago have so few on-street bike parking corrals? It's all about the Benjamins

On-street bike parking corrals, which park up to 12 cycles in one car space, promote cycling, free up space for pedestrians and attract customers to businesses, and they're starting to become a standard element in bike-friendly streetscapes. Portland, Oregon, has installed 97 of them since 2004. San Francisco began installing them in 2010 and now has 32; New York City debuted its first corral in August 2011 and now has 12. So why does Chicago, which installed its first corral by Wicker Park's Flat Iron Building a month earlier than NYC, only have four?

The difference is funding. Although the Chicago Department of Transportation has a staff member working to coordinate installation of the corrals, with the goal of installing 20 by
this September, unlike those other cities, CDOT does not provide the corrals free of charge. Instead, businesses and community organizations that want corrals are asked to pay thousands of dollars for the racks and installation, making the corrals a much tougher sell, but hopefully this situation will change in the near future:

http://chi.streetsblog.org/2013/03/08/why-chicago-is-lagging-behind...

Keep moving forward,

John Greenfield


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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Green Machine Cycles on March 11, 2013 at 1:49pm

John, my understanding is that any automobile pay-to-park space that's removed to add something like bike corral parking must be offset by the addition of another nearby parking space. I was told that since LAZ owns the pay-to-park spaces, it requires its revenue base to remain unaltered in order to fulfill its contract with the City. 

You're the journalist, however. I'd love to see what your research turns up regarding our fair city's relationship with its on-street bike parking progress versus that of other, more progressive towns.

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on March 11, 2013 at 5:08pm

When the corrals involve car parking removal, new metered spots are created elsewhere to make up for the lost revenue. This complicates the process, but so far it hasn't been a big deal. I think LAZ understands that everybody hates them, so they're trying to be cooperative.

Permalink Reply by Kevin K on March 12, 2013 at 12:58am

If I understand the parking meter deal correctly, the city didn't do the contract w/ LAZ, right?  Wasn't the deal done w/ a special purpose entity (Chicago Parking Meters, LLC) that's half owned by Morgan Stanley and quarter owned by two other investment groups, who subsequently hired LAZ to manage the operation of the meters?  LAZ is just a subcontractor here.

Point being, it's not like LAZ cooked up this deal, or tricked the city into signing the contract.  They've just been hired to manage the meters and write the tickets.  LAZ might be doing it as cheaply as possible while still staying within the performance standards of the contract, they might be unresponsive, trying to get by with too few workers, etc, but it's not LAZ's fault the city has to pay out when they remove parking spaces.  "They just work here..."

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on March 12, 2013 at 8:09am

Correct, I've been using LAZ as shorthand, and since they make the day-to-day decisions, but it might be more accurate to refer to CPM.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on March 12, 2013 at 10:47am

I wonder if the City has tried an insanity defense to get out of the contract. The deal was clearly not in the interest of the City and no sensible party should have signed on to it. Is sanity relevant to contract law?

Seems applicable to the former mayor and his city council at the time:http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/insanity


Kevin K said:

If I understand the parking meter deal correctly, the city didn't do the contract w/ LAZ, right?  Wasn't the deal done w/ a special purpose entity (Chicago Parking Meters, LLC) that's half owned by Morgan Stanley and quarter owned by two other investment groups, who subsequently hired LAZ to manage the operation of the meters?  LAZ is just a subcontractor here.

Point being, it's not like LAZ cooked up this deal, or tricked the city into signing the contract.  They've just been hired to manage the meters and write the tickets.  LAZ might be doing it as cheaply as possible while still staying within the performance standards of the contract, they might be unresponsive, trying to get by with too few workers, etc, but it's not LAZ's fault the city has to pay out when they remove parking spaces.  "They just work here..."

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 12, 2013 at 11:21am

I thought LAZ was a retirement package for some of Daley's people.  Sidewalks for the most part are big enough for bike racks and there are already a lot around town so removing parking spaces doesn't really appeal to me.  Plus it just makes bikes easier for some bonehead to hit with their car.

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on March 12, 2013 at 12:05pm

"Sidewalks for the most part are big enough for bike racks" - not so if we're going to reach Portland, let alone Amsterdam, levels of bike riding. There's no way you could fit parking for 20 bikes on the sidewalk in front of RevBrew, and I guarantee their corral is going to get good use.

Permalink Reply by Barry Niel Stuart on March 12, 2013 at 3:16pm

Here in Milwaukee, our bike corrals are installed by private businesses.  Both Alterra on Prospect and Lowlands Group install bike corrals from April to November.  This has been very good for their businesses respectively.

Permalink Reply by globalguy on March 12, 2013 at 3:29pm

Bigger question: Why does Chicago not have a bike advocacy organization?

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on March 12, 2013 at 3:50pm

I don't follow you Garth. What's your argument that Active Trans is not a bike advocacy organization?

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on March 12, 2013 at 4:21pm

It's seems a little cost prohibitive for small businesses to buy them and have no real return on investment unless they cater to or happen to attract a large number of cyclists. 

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on March 12, 2013 at 7:26pm

Personal experience/anecdotal observation/no scientific basis:  I like to shop locally.  There is not enough car parking to drive to most places where small businesses are located in the city, therefore going by bike is the best option.  If there is a bike corral near the business, I am assured a place to lock my bike and I am more likely to go there.  Otherwise I have to figure out if there is bike parking near enough to bike to the shop.  Bike corral=business from cyclists if it is a business that caters to people who shop.  

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