enfilade

https://www.biketree.com/

Engyo

Here they would hook it up with the little ATM thing that all of the new smart parking meters have, and charge for using it.

vik 

Very cool.

BengeBoy 

Ugly. complicated, expensive. Looks like a hideous Walt Disney Epcot kind of invention from the 60's. Even though I'm a cyclist, I care about my community, too, and I would hate to see this kind of junk littering up the streets in my community.

enfilade

yeah it is a bit of an eyesore, but overall i think the benefits would far outway the drawbacks.

if they put one of these in my town i wouldn't complain, hell, most of the buildings are just as ugly anyway, atleast this one might encourage people to cycle.

besides, i reckon if they spruced it up a bit it could look pretty nice.

Dave Nault

If you were a city dwelling commuter type who had no other options but to lock your bike around a street sign outside in the weather all day while you work, you might see this as a real improvement.

pubb

If a city were going to do this, it would make more sense to go with something like the Velibs in Paris.

Wogster

It's a solution, not sure if it's the best one though, probably better is if city owned parking garages, simply took out a couple of spaces and put in racks that were in view of the parking attendant. A better option would be a vertical version of the bicycle locker.

One way this could work, you go to the locker, open the door, put your bike inside, the attendant then operates a switch that locks the door, you get a claim stub from the attendant. You go do your business, on your return you go to the attendant, who checks the time on the card and charges you the proper fee,
they then operate the switch to unlock the door. You go back to the locker and remove your bike and gear. Could be easy to build, just take some vertical bike racks, build a metal wire cage around and between them, add a gate and put an electronic lock on the door. For security they could allow the user to use their own lock as well.

Personally I see nothing wrong with a parking garage charging a fee for secure and dry bicycle parking, being able to park your gear and wander around knowing that some low life can't just cut your lock and make off with your gear would be worth even a not so small fee. Considering that you could probably fit 10 vertical bike lockers in a car space, even 1/4 the cost of car parking would be reasonable.

benajah

I can see a lot of instances where this would be really useful, especially at the BART bike parking places in the SF Bay area and in San Francisco city. Bike theft is really bad and there really are few good places to lock one up. While there may be better solutions, I can definitely see where this would be a really good one for a lot of applications.

LeeG

That is neat. Must cost a bundle. I don't see the appearance unpleasant at all compared to the acres of parking lots required to store cars. It's an organic shape providing shelter from the rain as you drop off and pick up your bike. It would need to have power back up as you wouldn't want it to lock peoples bikes up in a power outage.

mr geeker

i think it looks like a giant blue metal and plexiglass mushroom. kinda cool if you ask me. i wouldn't mind seeing them around dsm.

Supertick

I think they look very nice. It rains alot where I live and the cover is an added plus. I would like it if my city put one in. There are alot of bike riders in my community and it would get used bunches.

canopus 

I think it looks and works better than a couple of the garages they are trying to get built. Keeps the bike out of the weather and away from thieves. You don't have to carry around a lock or cable and lock and chip up your frame. It is a natural design. I love it. It would be great if the metro here had them and you could use them along with your bus pass. It looks a lot better than rows and rows of bike racks.