Living Car Free - Paying for Bicycle parking

It has been all over the school paper and on the news today at Texas A&M. I was curious to what yall thought about it. I should note that they put the idea of charging on hold for now but I am still curious to what yall think.

They are wanting to charge $10 for registration to be able to ride and or park on campus.

There reasons for doing it is that they are claiming that there is too much bike traffic and that people are getting injured and or killed. As well as to reduce the number of abandoned or stolen bikes.

Other reasons are so that they could build and rent out bike lockers for more money, rent out u-locks(wtf), more bike parking, ways to cut locks for students who loose there keys(scares me), and finally showers. But to be honest everyone smells when walking a mile or more when it is 100 degrees out side so why? Then too there are already showers in the Rec center.

I know personally that I would like them to get rid of all the wheel bender racks and put in good quality racks first. Which the put in the first ones this last week which are the inverted U. There are those squiggly things but the built them too close to walls to be able to rest the frame on them and then finally they have 2 sets that I actually also like to which are the spiral things. I will admit that there is not near enough parking right now and I park a ways away to hook up to a good rack.

Plus they cut bike locks and haul them off when they are locked to light posts hand rails or fences and sometimes trees.

Apparently 96 bikes worth over $30,000 have been stolen so far this year from campus. I still use a cable lock on my rusty schwinn ranger and no one has tried to steal it even with the panniers on it(bolted down and locked of course).

Also we pay $70 per semester for bus fees regardless of whether you ride it or not.

The Battalion On campus paper (http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2009/03/25/News/Group.Postpones.Bicycle-3681920.shtml)

Just don't tell me that car parking is free.

Also we pay $70 per semester for bus fees regardless of whether you ride it or not.


My son has the same deal at Iowa State. I wish the local transit people would let large groups of people enjoy unlimited transit access for less than $30 a month. It might reduce the population of single occupant SUVs that zip past me every morning.

Just don't tell me that car parking is free.

Nah they charge between $270-$450 for students and up to $720 for staff spots. I am in the cheapest garage that is seriously 3/4 mi. to a mile away from everything thus why it is actually faster for me just to ride to class on my bike. For me it is faster to go just about anywhere around here on my bike though. Everyone seemed to think I was crazy when I used to pass the bus every morning until I changed to a flatter safer route.

I think that $10 isnt bad considering the cost to park a car. But its hard for me to agree with requiring a bike registration. You couldnt just hop on your bike and get to class, its not outrageous. But I never want to see the day when there would be "bike parking" to pay for everywhere. This would almost defeat most of the reasons for cycling in the first place.

I think that $10 isnt bad considering the cost to park a car. But its hard for me to agree with requiring a bike registration.

Actually to me, if done right, the registration would be the best part of the deal. That could make serious in roads into bike theft if people can make sure that the bike they are buying is legal.

Sounds like $10 basically covers the added expense of the regisitration work, which benefits the riders.

I'd be willing to pay $10 per day for secure indoor parking at work in Manhattan.

delman, I don't see a thing wrong with the schools plan at all. It cost to provide upgraded services
for students property (which a bike surely is) so get over any angst about the change.

I hope they don't do that. I work at UT Austin and, even though you're an Aggy, I would hate to see that happen on any college campus. :thumb:

If you know who to contact, you should suggest they check out the UT bike registration program. Our Parking and Transportation department has set up a bicycle registration program which is quite progressive. The registration is completely free, and they give you a registration sticker to put on your bike for identification. Also, there are racks all over the place, there are air pumps at each parking garage so you can inflate tires whenever you need, and commuters are allowed to shower in several locations around campus. Some parking garages also have enclosed bike lockers for a rental fee.

I know that suggesting A&M look at UT as an example would be sacrilege in College Station, but it might be worth it. I don't understand why they would want to punish cyclists when motorists take up FAR more room on campus.

I can see the benefit for registration - every semester, there was a bike left sitting, chained, at one of the different racks around campus, taking up space that other people could be using. If they have a way to trace it back to the owner, they can take care of this sooner rather than waiting til the semester's over and seeing if anyone comes back for it. It's not so much of a problem in times when biking wasn't so popular, but with the cost of tuition and such being so high these days, less students can afford to keep a car on campus - you're going to see loads and loads of more bikes - abandoned and otherwise - popping up. There has to be a way to deal with it!

And frankly - if people had to pay $10, they might think twice about how they ride around traffic and pedestrians, and that can only be a good thing.

I brought a bike to campus (15 yrs ago before biking was such a hipster/green/marketed thing) when there were just 5 or 6 racks on the entire property. It didn't work for me, because I wasn't yet wise to how bike commuting worked. Used a 6-yr-old dept. store beater, I myself was grossly out-of-shape at the time, and the ride into town as uphill and miles before the shopping centers appeared. I envy the kids who are on bike-friendly campuses now.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!!!

There reasons for doing it is that they are claiming that there is too much bike traffic and that people are getting injured and or killed.

Bullcrap. It's the cars that are killing people, not the bikes.

Charge a $10 toll for every car that enters campus. Put the money in a fund for injured cyclists.

Bullcrap. It's the cars that are killing people, not the bikes.

I don't know Roody. I remember my years on the UC Santa Barbara bike paths. As a freshman I treated them like freeways and tried to see how hard and how fast I could ride them on my Peugeot U-08. In such a situation there were definitely a lot of bike to bike and bike to pedestrian collisions.

Sounds like $10 basically covers the added expense of the regisitration work, which benefits the riders.

I'd be willing to pay $10 per day for secure indoor parking at work in Manhattan.

I'm confused about why everyone thinks $10 a day would be anywhere near reasonable. These are, after all, students and the school expects them to kick in what could amount to near an extra $1000 per semester for bicycle parking? That's crazy.

It has been all over the school paper and on the news today at Texas A&M. I was curious to what yall thought about it. I should note that they put the idea of charging on hold for now but I am still curious to what yall think.

They are wanting to charge $10 for registration to be able to ride and or park on campus.

There reasons for doing it is that they are claiming that there is too much bike traffic and that people are getting injured and or killed. As well as to reduce the number of abandoned or stolen bikes.

Other reasons are so that they could build and rent out bike lockers for more money, rent out u-locks(wtf), more bike parking, ways to cut locks for students who loose there keys(scares me), and finally showers. But to be honest everyone smells when walking a mile or more when it is 100 degrees out side so why? Then too there are already showers in the Rec center.

I know personally that I would like them to get rid of all the wheel bender racks and put in good quality racks first. Which the put in the first ones this last week which are the inverted U. There are those squiggly things but the built them too close to walls to be able to rest the frame on them and then finally they have 2 sets that I actually also like to which are the spiral things. I will admit that there is not near enough parking right now and I park a ways away to hook up to a good rack.

Plus they cut bike locks and haul them off when they are locked to light posts hand rails or fences and sometimes trees.

Apparently 96 bikes worth over $30,000 have been stolen so far this year from campus. I still use a cable lock on my rusty schwinn ranger and no one has tried to steal it even with the panniers on it(bolted down and locked of course).

Also we pay $70 per semester for bus fees regardless of whether you ride it or not.

The Battalion On campus paper (http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2009/03/25/News/Group.Postpones.Bicycle-3681920.shtml)

Something you could do, although it might take a little while to 'pay for itself', would be to get a folding bike.

The type that folds into suitcase that has tiny wheels.

You would then have your books and bike all together.

Hope this helps you.

I'm confused about why everyone thinks $10 a day would be anywhere near reasonable. These are, after all, students and the school expects them to kick in what could amount to near an extra $1000 per semester for bicycle parking? That's crazy.

Zowie was the only one talking about bicycle parking for $10.00 per day. In Manhattan, that might be reasonable. Though a series of Walmart Bikes might be cheaper. The OP was talking about $10.00 per semester.

After reading the article, it said that they have postpone the fee for further review. But, the reason for the fee would be to provide addittional services for the bicyclists, racks, rental locks, bike lockers, showers,etc. I think that is a postitive thing. The school is looking at options to raise funds for additional services that is can offer the student body. The OP even amits to paying $270/yr.for car parking. If I was the OP and they did charge the $10 fee, then stop paying for your parking permit and you will be up $260. (this is exactly what I did) I work for a University and I pay $24/yr for a bike storage. I will tell you that is a bargian. I do not have to worry about theft and the bike is indoors. I stopped paying for parking and fully committed to commuting.

$20 at a college where you are already (probably) spending over $10K a year isn't much, but hopefully they can work to keep bike theft away.

I'd go for it. I quit paying for a parking permit for my car and parked across the street from campus (quite a benefit of a small campus, and besides, it kept rambunctious dorm kids from messing with it). $10/year is cheap, and if it can help pay for bike-related services, it's money well spent.

When I was studying at an urban campus, the lack of bicycle parking was a huge problem Some of the cyclists would lock their bikes on the wheelchair ramps, which meant the people who needed those ramps couldn't use them. This was nothing but inconsiderate behaviour on the part of the cyclists.

A registration and fee for cyclists could have paid for bike parking racks and it could have worked as a way to track and fine cyclists who blocked wheelchair ramps with their bikes.

A $10 fee for a semester of bike parking seems quite low, especially if it means a way to provide bike parking and track stolen bikes.

At the University of Arizona, where I work, they have a registration process which isn't required, but is encouraged and is free. The university has free bike racks all over campus, but they also have bike racks you can pay for. They have individual lockers that cost $70 a year. I paid for a bike enclosure which is $30 a year and is covered and requires a 4 digit password to get into the enclosure. I think it is very fair.

When I was studying at an urban campus, the lack of bicycle parking was a huge problem Some of the cyclists would lock their bikes on the wheelchair ramps, which meant the people who needed those ramps couldn't use them. This was nothing but inconsiderate behaviour on the part of the cyclists.

Were there racks where people could park? I've *never* seen a problem with ramps around UW's South Union, CS and Geology buildings, but there are also at least 30 racks between the three buildings. You *do* see regular problems over by Muscle Biology and Babcock Hall, because there are about 10 racks in the area, and about 7 buildings. Also, Muscle Biology and Babcock have shops open to the public (the butcher and the campus dairy), so there's a lot more parking demand. Despite the rack shortage, there's *still* more bike parking than car parking tho. One of the reasons for more racks is because CS end of campus has a lot of building entries turned into small or not so small plazas, with raised beds for plantings, walls or benches to sit on, and a bunch of bike racks... ends up being prettier, easier to make accessible *and* more functional even in the worst of winter.

The CS end of campus also has a pretty good scooter parking arrangement. You pretty much never see a scooter blocking the bike racks. The Babcock Hall end has a smidge of scooter parking, and you'll often see scooters blocking the racks... which just makes things even worse.

People tend to be more considerate if you give them a chance... if all they've got to lock up to are railings, they'll lock up on the railings.