When the price of oil hit $3 people groused, but didn't seem to significantly change their energy use patterns. But now that it's flirting with $4, I'm seeing friends who are reconsidering whether they can use their bikes to commute to work, at least sometimes. For people to use bikes more, we have to have infrastructures that make bikes more convenient - like good and plentiful bike racks. Portland has lots of bike racks and they are often interesting designs.
Friday afternoon I used this bike rack at the Court building when i went to the wedding.
At the Sullivan Arena for the Elton John concert, we couldn't find the bike racks (I'm assuming there are some somewhere.) Neither could these folks.
Or these folks.
Trees and parking meters and no parking signs are fine right now, but when more people start using bikes, non bikers are going to get tired of bikes tied up to everything strongly fastened to the ground.
And then I always wonder when I see a lock like this. Was the bike stolen? If so, why didn't they at least take the lock home? Or maybe these reflect people who lost the keys for the locks.
Uh, I haven't biked for ages. I am getting lazy.
ReplyDeletei've been biking everyplace for a year and a half, and a lack of secure bike racks around town is a really big deal. we're required by law to provide parking for cars. why not for bikes, too?
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