NYC STREETS RENAISSANCE

» Bike Parking

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking (5:43)

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Nearly five years ago, legendary bike mechanic Hal Ruzal and I walked the streets surrounding Bicycle Habitat and graded the bike locking ability of New Yorkers - producing many humorous and enlightening anecdotes. The resulting video aired frequently on bikeTV and at many festivals, and because of it - Hal is still frequently asked by complete strangers to judge their bike locking.

I always endeavored doing another, but as with most sequels you need a new wrinkle. This time we thought we’d give Hal some company and invited former Recycle a Bicycle mechanic Kerri Martin (and founder of The Bike Church in Asbury Park, NJ) to weigh in with her expertise.

Again, bikes on the streets of SoHo provide lots of fodder for laughs and lessons to learn.We didn’t plan to but we walked the same loop and even used the same one-hour time frame. The results? The grades were a little better than five years ago. Sure, still some bad locking out there, but many more people are now sporting multiple locks and better strategies! Good news, maybe we made a difference after all…

Filed by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. under Hal Ruzal, Kerri Martin, Bike Parking, Manhattan, Bicycling, streetfilms
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Friday, July 27th, 2007

S.F. Giants: Valet Bike Parking 81 Games Per Year (2:57)

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Barry Bonds may almost have the home run record, but the San Francisco Giants have another milestone that is much more admirable: the first to have a free, convienent, attended bike parking service at all 81 of their home games.

As part of an arrangement with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, you can bicycle to a Giants game at AT&T Park, check your bike with up to 200+ other fans, and go catch America’s pastime. Kash, Valet Bike Parking Coordinator for SFBC, runs the operation and gives us the scoop. As you’ll see, fans overwhelmingly endorse it.

A regulation passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1999 states all events incurring a street closure require monitored bicycle parking if the event anticipates 2000 or more participants. This only makes sense in a city like New York, too. Why not encourage something like this at Madison Square Garden, Yankee or Shea Stadium? Or at the very least, some quality racks in a secure, protected location.

Filed by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. under Bike Parking, Bay Area (Oakland, SF, Berkeley), Transportation Policy, streetfilms
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Friday, July 13th, 2007

Trading Car Parking for Bike Racks (3:30)

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In a historic first for New York City, the Department of Transportation has replaced three car parking spaces in Williamsburg with bike racks to accomodate about 30 bicycles.

The on-street bike parking, which is right next to the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train, will greatly benefit the burgeoning bicycling mecca of Billyburg. As any visitor or person in the community knows, it is very hard to find a legal spot to lock up your bike there. Hopefully, we will see other places in NYC getting this same treatment.

For more on the history of the project, please see the entry on our sister site Streetsblog.

Filed by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. under Bike Parking, Janette Sadik-Khan, Brooklyn, Best Practices, Parking, streetfilms
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(latest by StreetFilms » Trading Car Parking for Bike Racks Video)
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Friday, May 11th, 2007

Secure Bike Parking Just Cents Per Hour (5:44)

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At many locations in the Bay Area you’ll find electronic, on-demand Bike Link locking facilities where you can park your bike securely for between 3 to 5 cents per hour! The lockers were created by eLock Technologies, which runs the Bike Link facilities.

While not ubiqutous just yet, one can see the amazing potential for this technology on the streets of New York City. Imagine a bike locker on every corner, not having to carry multiple heavy locks, and - most importantly - being able to ride even the most expensive model bike and know it’ll be there when you return.

StreetFilms likes to dream, but seriously folks, this could be a moneymaker in NYC. I’d pay lots more than pennies per hour to lock my bike!

Filed by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. under Clarence Eckerson Jr., Bike Parking, Bay Area (Oakland, SF, Berkeley), streetfilms
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Thursday, May 3rd, 2007

Bikestation: Berkeley (2:39)

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Dave Campbell of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition gives us a quick tour of the Berkeley Bikestation where bike parking is safe and free. This is just one of many innovative bike parking facilities on the West Coast that NYC could implement at key transit hubs like Penn Station, Grand Central, the Staten Island Ferry and Atlantic Avenue Terminal.

Filed by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. under Bike Parking, Bay Area (Oakland, SF, Berkeley), Transit, streetfilms
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Sunday, April 29th, 2007

Hal Grades Your Bike Locking (8:30)

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Since it’s officially the first week of Bike Month, we resurrected this 2003 bikeTV classic that was my first work to gain worldwide noterity in the alternative transportation world.

We hit the streets of Soho with the help of Bicycle Habitat’s most famous mechanic Hal Ruzal - who humorously grades the bike locking ability of New Yorkers. Sure he’s harsh, but also damn funny while dispensing useful anecdotes from his many decades in the biz. Hopefully you’ll learn how to keep your bike safe and avoid a failing grade.

Filed by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. under Hal Ruzal, Bike Parking, Manhattan, streetfilms
Comments 12 Comments
(latest by Do you really know how to lock your bike? and Do you really know how to lock your bike?)
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