As many of you know, I am currently working toward an MBA from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. I ride my bike to class every week.
I usually don’t park my bike around the building, choosing instead to keep it locked up in the enclosure I rent from the UA.
The other day, however, I was running late and parked by the building. The parking was full and I only got a spot when someone left. I noticed this sign above while I was trying to find a spot.
Seems to me that if you have such a problem of people locking their bikes to the handrail, that maybe it would be more effective to add additional parking as opposed to putting up a sign banning locking to the handrail.
As I was taking the photos, a UA student unlocked his bike and asked if I was trying to get more bike parking.
He said he parked there everyday and the rack was always packed and it was hard to find parking. He said he hoped the UA would add an additional rack.
Anecdotally, it seems to me that parking services at least works to redistribute bike racks around campus according to need, but that they don’t necessarily have the funding to add a ton of new racks. A couple of months ago, they removed a couple of usually empty racks, which were next to the bus stop on the mall near optical sciences. I don’t know where those particular racks ended up, but now the remaining racks at that location are closer to capacity on a daily basis. If, as I suspect, funding for new racks is limited, they probably try to make the best of the resources they have, but still end up with compromised situations in lots of places around campus.
I have trouble understanding the issue of locking bikes to things other than bike racks. What exactly is the harm? The concept of “overflow parking” is not foreign to car users, and overflow bike parking could serve as a planning aid to see where additional racks could be useful.
This has been a problem for at least 4 years in this location and it has not been addressed,
Fire safety, mostly. At least when it comes to handrails and the like, the passages have to be kept clear so people can quickly and safely exit the buildings.
The red and white moped (e-bike?) in the first photo looks cool and functional, especially for humid summer. What is it? Is it legally parked there?
The red and white moped (e-bike?) in the first photo looks cool and functional, especially for humid summer. What is it? Is it legally parked there?
I agree. I occasionally serve as a business community volunteer for the Eller College. And, oh, yes, I ride my bike to Eller. I’ve often found it challenging to find a parking space in this bank of racks. I think that more are needed.
They added a few more bike racks outside of Meinel(optical sciences) literally this morning.
I just noticed the newish compressed-air stations outside Koffler and Modern Languages. Pretty cool.
Misleading story, there are bike racks on three sides and there is always room at the law schoolmbuilding next store (not many law students bike, surprized?), story is written as if there is only parking in the front of the building, yes that rack gets full, PTS should have ticketed moped, it’s supposed to pay for motorcycle parking.
I disagree. Ill admit I’m not familiar with the law school parking, but the racks on the other side of Eller are also consistently full during the times I’ve been there.
Additionally when parking my bikes, I want them to be on highly visible locations as an added layer of protection.
Clearly if they had to put up a sign because people were using the handrail, there is pent up demand for THAT location.
Idea: Why don’t you just park it like 15 feet away and walk and stop complaining.
That is EXACTLY the point. There aren’t another set of racks to “park it like 15 feet away and walk.” When that rack is full you can go to the other side of the building, which often has full racks too.
As Kenneth mentioned, there are apparently another usually empty set of racks by the law library, which I’ve never encountered, but will investigate. however if they can’t be seen by people who want to ride their bike to McClelland Hall do they really serve that area?
It’s not complaining, but illustrating there is demand for more parking for McClelland Hall, but rather than add parking to where people want to park, they have added a sign.
Tell me how if you want to encourage people to ride their bikes to campus that that sign makes accomplishes that goal?
Ever see all the Bike Boxes behind the hospital, if they were all being used I’d be real impressed? None of those around McC or Law (my homes for internet use!). I actually know the guy who does the racks, I could put in a word, or try to get him to post.
Yeah, I really doubt those are filled. I was shocked the first time I saw all of those there.
There is an interesting comment on reddit from someone who says he/she works at PTS. Check it out: http://www.reddit.com/r/Tucson/comments/11p2ul/university_of_arizona_cyclists_dont_need_a_sign/
Do Bike Riders pay “Any” special bike-only fees, such as licensing or registration, which would fund these projects they want, the rest of us now have to pay for?
Bikes do pay for parking in enclosures in the parking garages and bike lockers that are throughout the campus.
Plus students who bike to campus DO pay tuition just like people who drive to campus.
I can’t imagine you are trying to say that the parking expenses motorists pay to park on campus actually cover the cost of the infrastructure for cars on campus. All students subsidize the cost of transportation infrastructure on campus regardless of the way they get there.
Lastly, doesn’t it make sense as a motorist to want people to ride their bikes to campus? What would it look like if all of a sudden the estimated 10,000 people who ride their bikes to campus decided to start driving? Think you’d be able to find a spot to park let alone pay the same amount? How long do you think it would take to get to campus with an additional 10.000 cars on the road?
That Reddit post took me back. I used to work for FM. They are the mafia, they shake down every department for big cash, to do mundane tasks, and kill lots of departments ideas to improve campus. Current employees can’t come out and say that, certain departments have unchecked power, FM & Athletics, in particular.
What follows might not go over very well, Red Star understands that.
Nevertheless, why not limit bicycle parking to one floor of two or three parking garages. That’s it, all you get…no more scattered and ugly bike racks (they go away, deal with it) and zero tolerance for illegally locking to railings, etc. You park and intelligently lock your bike in one of the few huge places and walk (gasp!) the rest of the distance (what, a huge 100 yards… OMG! 100 yards! It’s not like you are geriatric or feeble, or something) to your building/class or whatever you do all day at that great big place.
Would this plan make cycling routes on the campus more predictable and reduce collisions and chaos and reduce theft? Reduce costs for police and transpo dept?
Most of the comments in this thread amount to: I know of a building that has sufficient bike racks, therefore all buildings have sufficient bike racks. Profoundly awful reasoning wouldn’t bug me so much if they weren’t *attending the UA*.
I wanted the thank you for making me aware of the parking on the east side of the building by the law school. There was indeed a lot more parking over there. It’s be great if they added another rack to the spot where it is full all the time, but a sign pointing to the other racks would be helpful too.
How about signs that say where else other bike racks around the building are located, at every building? That would be useful!