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| 2007/4/24 [Transportation/Bicycle] UID:46433 Activity:nil 90%like:46438 |
4/24 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bikevalet23apr23,0,5859225.story?coll=la-home-headlines Bicycle valet services. Free. \_ Every been to the bikestation at berkeley bart? \_ BART has been providing the same service for a while: http://www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikeOverview.asp |
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| www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bikevalet23apr23,0,5859225.story?coll=la-home-headlines Large Text Size Large Text Size Change text size Cities peddle parking for bicycles Communities hope that valet and other services will encourage residents to use bikes for commuting and doing errands. click to enlarge Pity the cyclist with the $4,000 titanium road bike attempting to park at the Sunday farmers market in Santa Monica. After 10:30 am, the meters and street signs were already claimed by early rising cyclists who chained their bike frames to the poles, and that hefty, pricey Kryptonite lock simply wouldn't fit around the nearest fence post. Now, cyclists in search of heirloom tomatoes and organic cilantro can enjoy valet parking of the sort offered to BMW-driving diners at Ivy at the Shore or Chinois on Main, handing over their wheels to polite attendants who park them at a nearby bicycle stand. In California bicycle circles, this kind of service is the coming thing. Long Beach residents can check their bikes at the downtown Bikestation, where they can get free air for their tires and on-site repair service. A Santa Barbara self-service bike center opening May 1 will feature hot showers and a locker room for changing from sweaty nylon-spandex jerseys to suits, ties and heels. Valet bike parking would seem a quintessentially Californian response to clogged freeways and overflowing parking lots. By encouraging more cyclists, cities are promoting environmental consciousness and outdoor cardio workouts. Most important, for some cyclists, is knowing that someone is watching over their bike. "You can have all the bike lanes you want, but when you get to your location, you need a place to park," said Russ Roca, 29, of Long Beach. Roca, a freelance photographer, travels exclusively on a bike retooled to carry 200 pounds of camera equipment. He is a regular at the local Bikestation, which, he says, has become a social spot for area cyclists. These centers for cycling aficionados are largely public-private partnerships, modeled after facilities in Europe and Asia. In 1996, the Bikestation in downtown Long Beach, near the MTA's Blue Line station, was the first to open in the United States. Its founders have created the Bikestation Coalition, an umbrella group that helps open other centers on the West Coast. The concept has spread to the usual progressive hot spots: Berkeley, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Seattle. Most of the centers offer valet and self-service parking. Some contain small repair shops, and some offer classes. They were built largely with public funds, and revenue covers most operating expenses. The new Santa Barbara center, for example, is funded by downtown car parking fees. It contains $80,000 in equipment and is expected to cost $25,000 a year to operate. Pasadena, meanwhile, is preparing plans for a bike center near the Gold Line light-rail stop in Old Town. The city hopes to use $180,000 in state grant money to build a facility that will hold 40 bikes. Santa Monica hopes to build a downtown bike center with room for 300 bikes. In the meantime, the city parks 200 to 250 bicycles at its crowded Sunday market and is bracing for up to 350 bikes this summer. Planners hope that these service-oriented parking centers will encourage residents to use their bikes to do errands and commute to work. On Sunday on Santa Monica's Main Street, trusting shoppers were handing over their sleek racing bikes and rusty beach cruisers to attendants who by noon had filled spaces designed for seven cars with more than 70 bicycles. Although the service is free, most people left tips of $1, $3 and more. Kristin Mongiello, 35, of Santa Monica sped up to the valet table, her bike pulling her son, Riley Egan, 5, who was behind her on an attached wheeled contraption called a "Trail-a-bike." They were rushing to a super-hero themed birthday party, and Egan was dressed in a blue and gold hero costume. On the way, they needed a few things from the farmers market, where she has become a regular valet parker. |
| www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikeOverview.asp -> www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikeoverview.asp?ct=1 FREE Secure Bike Parking at Three BART Stations Fruitvale BART Station The Fruitvale bike station is in Fruitvale Village, adjacent to the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland. It's the second largest bike station in the nation and features free, secure bike storage and a full-service bike repair shop. Operated by local retailer Alameda Bicycle, the Fruitvale bike station is near the northeast station exit by the Caesar Chavez Plaza entrance of Fruitvale Village. Free attendant parking is available from 6 am to 8 pm weekdays and 10 am to 6 pm Saturdays. The bike station features more than 230 spaces and provides customers with repair services and bicycle retail including helmets, lights, locks and other accessories. Created in partnership with the City of Oakland and the Fruitvale Development Corporation, funding for this project was provided by the Bay Area Quality Management District Transportation Fund for Clean Air, Caltrans Bicycle Transportation Account and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency. Downtown Berkeley BART Station Located on the south end of the concourse level, attendants will store your bike in a secure area while you work, play or shop on BART. The Berkeley Bikestation will expand its hours beginning Monday, April 11, 2005. New hours are: weekdays 7 am to 9 pm (closed weekends and holidays). For more information call the Bike Station at (510) 548-7433. Embarcadero BART Station Located on the concourse level of the Embarcadero BART station in downtown San Francisco directly below Market Street near the Davis Street entrance, this bike facility provides attended parking in the non-paid area across from the platform-to-concourse elevator. The station is attended during the morning and evening weekday rush hours (7:30am- 9:30am and 3pm- 7pm). Parking and pick-up of bicycles during the staffed hours is free! However, a membership plan is recommended for those whose schedule varies from posted hours. Members can use their tag to access the Bike Station Weekdays 4am-Midnight, Saturday 6 am-Midnight and Sundays 8am-Midnight. The Embarcadero Bike Station is funded in partnership with BART by the Transportation Fund For Clean Air from the Bay Area Air Quality District. It is operated by Bikestation, a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in urban communities through the operation and development of bike-transit centers and related infrastructure. By using a combination of attended parking and self-serve parking, this bike facility provides more hours of bicycle parking. Lockers BART lockers are available to store bicycles, mopeds or wheelchairs. pdf) New electronic bicycle lockers coming soon BART plans installation of approximately two hundred electronic bicycle lockers by Bike to Work Day 2007 to meet high demand for secure bike parking. The project will have a variety of benefits, including increasing the bicycle storage capacity at BART stations, reducing or eliminating the wait list for lockers, demonstrating the effectiveness of the new electronic locker technology, and reducing the fire hazard created by the existing plastic lockers. Ultimately, the project will increase the opportunity to access BART by bicycle, thereby promoting the reduction of drive-alone trips to BART. Eighty lockers are planned for installation at Walnut Creek Station, made possible through Transportation Enhancement Activities funding. BART Bicycle Access and Parking Plan As a component of the Station Access Plans, the BART Bicycle Access and Parking Plan provides BART with the strategies necessary to enhance the attractiveness of the bicycle as an access mode and thereby increase the bicycle mode share. |