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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Bike-Thru Window Banking - Boulder, Colorado

by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. on October 8, 2008

Time: 1:00 Plays: 6,973 Embed:

How's this for customer service? The Pueblo Bank & Trust in Boulder, Colorado has been providing bicycle customers a bike drive-thru window for some time now, complete with a bike rack and H2O for thirsty travelers!

Although this is the first bank I've heard about, in Portland, Oregon there are a number of cafes and restaurants that have been providing bicycle customers with window services. It only seems civilized, right? Well, remember this hotly discussed topic on Streetsblog a few months back? Discuss...

3 Comments

Last comment by Dave Holladay
  1. Post Thumbnail  

    Fritz

    This is nice... it is... but I've never been bothered by buildings that are open not having bike thrus. Personally, I think banks need good bike racks so I can go into the bank and do my business with my bike securely locked and I see little advantage of using a "bike thru". What bothers me is that places with extended hours only support cars (by me banks don't have extended hours for cars). If I want to go to Taco Bell at 2 a.m. I have to use a car and not a bike or walking. So, deny me the 'convenience' of a drive thru on a bike and I don't mind... the real problem is denying people not in cars access to extended hours. But, I've got to figure that this video is hopefully a sign of good things to come on that front.

    October 8, 2008 at 8:32 pm Link # 1
  2. Post Thumbnail  

    Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

    Fritz,

    I think you really got it - give us the same "rights" as to someone having a car wanting to do a bank deposit or use a drive-thru food window and also provide nice bike parking in front of establishments and we don't need things like this. But the cool factor here is what we are highlighting, that this establishment went above and beyond the call of duty!

    October 8, 2008 at 8:37 pm Link # 2
  3. Post Thumbnail  

    Dave Holladay

    Why put yet another 'special facility' for a single type of customer I rarely shop at any store which does not accommodate me and my bicycle, genmerally for the larger stores that means bringing my bike in and wheeling it round the aisles, or having a place for short stay no-lock parking in the bank whilst I go to the counter across the room.

    Basically access requirements for a bicycle are the same as those mandated for wheelchaior users - so if a store or bank is accessible for wheelchair users it is accessible for cycle users, and depending on your take of the ADA (or UK's DDA) legislation there are many more people using cycles as mobility aids than there are using wheelchairs.

    So I suggest that this is a pure gimmick and in a truly integrated cycling town you will see bikes brought in to the store or the bank, maybe with some etiquette regarding the ti9mes of day and ways in which the cycle is
    used.

    You may want to make the start a bit easier for the store owners, suggest that a cycle users shopping period is scheduled for the times of day when the store is quieter - remind them that in European studies only 25% of car users puchsed quantities of goods that warrnted the use of a car, but 17% of cyclists bought more than 2 carrier bags worth of goods (reckoned to be the sensible quantity that5 can be carried by an individual shopper.

    Imagine the time efficient shopping trip where you, don't stop to park, go straight round the store and then load directly from the check-out onto the bike and ride away directly on leaving the store.

    If stores can have 'naturist' shopping sessions then cyclist shopping sessions could be a much simpler option to organise......

    November 7, 2008 at 7:25 pm Link # 3