Living Car Free - As more people use bikes....

Local governments lag in accommodating us...

http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2008/dec/02/cu-stop-locking-bikes-handrails/

and the rude bikers cause problems.

They reported that new racks would come in a the upcoming months... how hard is it to order a few and scatter them around campus in the high problem spots? Even if just a temporary solution until they get permanent fixtures in?


Also...
"CU is spending $300,000 on new bike racks this year..."

uhhhh... what? Made of solid gold?

Of all the difficulties an increase in bike commuting presents, parking should be the least.

Whomever is running that university's facilities is insane. Seriously, they plan to install more racks in the coming months, but they want the cyclists to stop locking their bikes up now? It seriously takes no time to install bike racks. I absolutely deplore the facilities managers at my university, but at least there are bike racks everywhere. There seems to be a culture amongst university administrations that students are, by default, wrong, rude, stupid, and in general just undesirable.

I'm a graduate student, and I'm often locked out of my own office. I'm sick of having to break into work just to do my freaking job.

Also, if someone is so decrepit that they can't get around without the use of a handrail, it would seem that they might be able to aid their mobility by carrying some kinda of long rigid object they could hold onto and push against the ground... I don't know, maybe a stick? Certainly, the whole world isn't equipped with rails, I know, I've seen lots of places without rails.

Also, if someone is so decrepit that they can't get around without the use of a handrail, it would seem that they might be able to aid their mobility by carrying some kinda of long rigid object they could hold onto and push against the ground... I don't know, maybe a stick? Certainly, the whole world isn't equipped with rails, I know, I've seen lots of places without rails.
Pretty selfish attitude, I'm afraid.

Using the rails as a bike rack is not the answer. Many people use handrails who are not "decrepit". Also bikes block access for everybody on the stairs. Even able bodied people shouldn't have to leap over your bike to access the building.

Until racks are installed, cyclists should park a little farther from the building. Find a parking bumper, signpost or tree to lock your bike. I'm sorry if you're able to pedal all the way to class, but you're then unable to walk that last hundred feet or so.
:cry:

Pretty selfish attitude, I'm afraid.

Using the rails as a bike rack is not the answer. Many people use handrails who are not "decrepit". Also bikes block access for everybody on the stairs. Even able bodied people shouldn't have to leap over your bike to access the building.

Until racks are installed, cyclists should park a little farther from the building. Find a parking bumper, signpost or tree to lock your bike. I'm sorry if you're able to pedal all the way to class, but you're then unable to walk that last hundred feet or so.
:cry:

So, I guess we understand the article differently. What I got was that there simply isn't the locking capacity for bikes, and they have nowhere else to lock them than the hand rails. So, the university is offering no lockup between now and when they plan to install more rack in the coming months.

Looking at the picture of the campus, it seems like their are rails pretty much everywhere. If someone rocks their bike in such a way that it blocks the path, that's one thing and they are certainly in the wrong. If their locked parallel to the path, I just don't see the issue. Maybe they should be locking them on the grass side instead of the path side, but making them not use the rails at all, while providing no other option isn't really fair.

I'm not sure I see how I'm selfish about suggesting a cane or walker for the people who have so much trouble getting around campus. I guess I'm used to the town I live in, where there are no rails on the sidewalks, no rails in the stores, no rails through the parking lot. Pretty much the only place I see hand rails are stairways. By the way, I don't support locking bikes to stairway handrails. It just seem that if someone is going to have trouble getting around if there are bikes next to the path, they'll probably have trouble all over the place, and maybe they should have some kind of support.

So, I guess we understand the article differently. What I got was that there simply isn't the locking capacity for bikes, and they have nowhere else to lock them than the hand rails. So, the university is offering no lockup between now and when they plan to install more rack in the coming months.

If I can't find a spot to park my car, can I park it on a wheelchair ramp?

"CU is spending $300,000 on new bike racks this year..."

uhhhh... what? Made of solid gold?


No kidding $300,000 for 390 more spaces, that is about $770 per space. No wonder college cost so much darn bike racks driving the cost of education up.

By the way, I don't support locking bikes to stairway handrails. It just seem that if someone is going to have trouble getting around if there are bikes next to the path, they'll probably have trouble all over the place, and maybe they should have some kind of support.

There are two separate issues, one is to have a solid hand rail to grab if the person is likely to fall. Sometimes this handrail gets extended where the walkway below the stairs has some decorative plantings. With a bike locked there, in a tripping situation the trippie can't get at the solid hand rail and the bike is wobbly. The second issue is having a clear path for emergency evacuation of the building and for emergency personell to haul their equipment in. Anything that constricts the path or presents a tripping hazard makes a fire code violation. The widths of the emergency paths should be computed based on some model of how many people have to exit and how fast you can expect them to move. The builders probably didn't make the paths any wider than they had to. There are some places where railings don't define the edge of a pathway and aren't there to support someone who might trip, in those cases authorities don't bother bikers much.

For example in Amsterdam there are railings that form the edge of the canals. They keep tipsy people from falling in but locking a bike to one doesn't impede traffic flow. Check out this web cam to see bikes locked to railings but not bothering pedestrians:
http://www.eyelogue.com/donniecam.html

I'm sure that having hundreds of bicycles chained to a railing might create havoc... it's just that I never see that many bikes anywhere... when it does get to be a problem, perhaps the city will step in with a plan...

Personally, I would be very careful about chaining my bike to a rail that served some other purpose. It's too easy to flatten a tire or perform other mischief. I like to park somewhere out of the way if at all possible.

I've read the article, and I used to be a student at that campus, and still have friends who work there, and I have to say, it's pretty much a non-issue. Boulder is very bike-friendly. The university is happy to have people ride bikes to class. New bike racks cost about $400 per space, but that is very little compared to a new parking space for a car. The only complaint is that people are parking bikes in places that should best be left clear, and the university is asking bicyclists, in a nice way, to be a little more considerate. There's no serious problem here. It's not like rowdy two-wheeled undergrads are knocking senior-citizen professors to the ground in their eagerness to get that engineering degree. Or, even worse, insisting on driving a car to class even though there's no parking.

they should just lock the bikes on the outside of the rail..

Whomever is running that university's facilities is insane. Seriously, they plan to install more racks in the coming months, but they want the cyclists to stop locking their bikes up now? It seriously takes no time to install bike racks. I absolutely deplore the facilities managers at my university, but at least there are bike racks everywhere. There seems to be a culture amongst university administrations that students are, by default, wrong, rude, stupid, and in general just undesirable.

I'm a graduate student, and I'm often locked out of my own office. I'm sick of having to break into work just to do my freaking job.

Also, if someone is so decrepit that they can't get around without the use of a handrail, it would seem that they might be able to aid their mobility by carrying some kinda of long rigid object they could hold onto and push against the ground... I don't know, maybe a stick? Certainly, the whole world isn't equipped with rails, I know, I've seen lots of places without rails.

I've cycled and commuted in four different countries, and in many different cities over the last 16 years, and I've rarely, if ever, used a bike rack. There are countless things to lock-up to in any urban area, but you somehow think that are entitled to take away infrastructure that was placed to aid the mobility of invalids.

Shame on you for your disgustingly selfish attitude and sense of entitlement!

“As a campus, we support those who drive their cars and we have plans in place to convert parkland to paved parking spaces in the coming months,” Bruno wrote. “But in the meantime, we will all be better off if we exercise a bit more care and consideration and keep in mind those among us who need to use the sidewalks to make their way in and out of our buildings.”

A little tweaking, from another point of view. At least on the positive side, they're not encouraging students to drive cars around the campus...