My 2 cents (out of $200M). I like to see money spent on bike infrastructure, and I am sure some of it will be cool and useful. I have seen waste, and one particular bit of that caused me considerable grief, which I passed on to a certain Dan Martin of SANDAG. Sadly, after reading the relevant section of the plan I see that my grievance was ignored, and the situation is still waste as usual.

Bike Lockers. These are a good idea, in principle. The way the project was, and is, implemented is incredibly wasteful. It started when I first started to commute by Metrolink. I had rented a bike locker at the Tustin Metrolink station for $15/mo. I would drive from home to the Oceanside Station, pick up the bike at the Tustin locker, where I also stored a pump and spares, and ride to work. As the weather warmed, and I got a road bike, I attempted to rent a SANDAG locker at Oceanside station, only to be told that they wouldn't rent to me since I commuted by Metrolink, which was not a SANDAG agency, and that the lockers were for Coaster/Sprinter Riders only. That generated the first of a rather heated exchange between me and said Mr. Martin. The reply was that it was never the policy to deny access to Metrolink riders. In fact there were no vacancies.

I suspect that the no Metrolink policy (which was abandoned as soon as I complained) was an attempt to hide the fact that there were “no vacancies.” Here is where it gets interesting, and points out the impending waste of money. The “official” occupancy rate of the bike lockers at most Coaster and Sprinter stations is 100%. The actual occupancy rate is closer to 10%. Why? The lockers are assigned for free with only a $25 key deposit required. The locker I was renting in Tustin was $15/mo, and I got to provide my own lock. If people are not paying a monthly fee, there is no incentive to actually use the lockers, and most go "functionally vacant".

I took a ride on my new road bike to Sorrento Valley, hitting all Coaster stations on the way, and lodging small scraps of paper in the doors of all of the lockers that would fall out if opened. I did that same ride the next three Saturdays, and checked to see how many of the lockers were used. That is how I came up with the 10% figure.

SANDAG intends to spend more money (about $5-6k for purchase and installation of each double compartment unit) on additional lockers that are not necessary. They could, as I have suggested in numerous emails and phone calls with Dan Martin at SANDAG [ (619) 699-6987, E-mail:dan.martin@sandag.org],<wink wink, nudge nudge.> start charging $10/ mo for the lockers. This would in no way defray the cost of the lockers, but it would insure that those who claim lockers, then give up the New Year’s resolutions to actually ride their bikes to work, send the keys back in.

In Orange County, the lockers are controlled by the individual cities the stations are located in. Irvine, which has a free locker policy, like SANDAG, also has “no vacancy”.

Mr Martin has not heard from me in a while, since the introduction of the Bike Car program on Metrolink made it more convenient to take my bike on the train. Still, I see that they intend to go forward with the boondoggle of purchasing more lockers, when charging a nominal fee will eliminate the need for it. The cost of collecting the fee will probably be met by the fee itself. The major reason for charging the fee is to insure access to the lockers to those who will actually use them, without wasting money on more lockers, that will be taken by more of those who will not use them.