http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/ BikingToronto Forum Topic: Bumpy road for Bike Station en Wed, 22 May 2013 15:00:35 +0000 http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/topic.php?id=379#post-1313 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:37:41 +0000 joe 1313@http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/ <p>Yes... and the BikeStation needs to be a "storefront" presence, like Sean Wheldrake <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/705316">says</a> is the intended location of the BikeStation.</p> <p>In a "breezeway" underneath train tracks is somewhat out of the way. Good for a start... but not for a finish. I'm glad they are still planning on making a BikeStation at City Hall. </p> http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/topic.php?id=379#post-1278 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:55:25 +0000 toddtyrtle 1278@http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/ <p>Sorry for the cynicism, but I think this may be representative of the problem with how the city handles cycling infrastructure. Sometimes I think doing it in a half-assed way does more damage than not doing it at all. If they did it right, as they did in Chicago people *would* be using it, but instead now detractors have something to point at to say "See! Nobody uses bike infrastructure, why spend the money!?" It's the same thing with bike lanes, in my opinion. If they *really* did a thorough job and put in an integrated network it would be used. Well, it would if they did the other half of the equation: enforce parking in the bike lanes.</p> <p>As long as the city tries not to step on any toes at all, we'll continue to have a substandard network in my opinion. We need an administration in the city like they have in NYC - a strong Mayor and Transportation minister who put bold plans out there and then make them happen. Not at a few km/year but big steps that show people they're serious. Not this tokenism we've seen to date that effectively amounts to free short term parking.</p> <p>Sorry - don't mind me. Probably not caffeinated enough. ;-) </p> http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/topic.php?id=379#post-1277 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:52:30 +0000 joe 1277@http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/ <p>From the <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/705316">Toronto Star</a>... a column about the challenges that have confronted (and have yet to confront) Toronto's first <a href="http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/bicycle-station/">Bike Station</a>:</p> <p><ul><li><em><br /> <strong><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/705316">Bumpy road for bike station</a></strong></p> <p>It is the kind of facility planners and cyclists have long insisted Toronto needs to encourage green commuting. But timing is everything, and celebration over the opening of Canada's first bike storage station, at Union Station, was muted somewhat by the city workers' strike this summer.</p> <p>So the city is trying again to spread the word about its new answer to many of the woes that befall urban cyclists.</p> <p>Toronto's version doesn't have the fancy showers and café of the bike station in Chicago's Millennium Park. But it does provide a secure refuge from the theft and vandalism that plague city cyclists.</p> <p>With a rack of tools and a vending machine that dispenses tire tubes, as well as snacks, it is a haven for fixing flats, and there's a clean room where cyclists can exchange their sweaty duds for office wear.</p> <p>The $400,000 Union Station facility is considered a pilot, the prelude to a bigger bike station to be built at City Hall next year that will accommodate up to 400 bikes.</p> <p>But no sooner had it opened on May 26 than the strike hit, shutting it down for most of the summer. And then there's the location and signage – photocopied pages directing cyclists to it are taped to the corridor walls.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/705316">Full Article</a></p> <p></em></li></ul> </p>