Bike-Friendly Buffalo: Missing the Meters
Over the last year the City of Buffalo has been installing new parking systems that alleviate the need for parking meters. It’s a great system that cities like Toronto have utilized for a number of years. The only problem with the missing meters is the missed opportunity to install bike racks. If you want to ride your bike to Court Street then there are a couple options if you want to protect your bike. 1) Bring it into the business. 2) Lock it to a tree on top of an elevated concrete flower planter. I never thought I would ever miss the parking meters. But without them there are fewer and fewer places to lock a bike. As more and more meters disappear, fewer and fewer bikers will frequent the downtown businesses.
I asked Blue Bike’s Justin Booth what could be done to secure bike racks on streets like Court Street and he answered, “There is a city ordinance amendment approved by the Common Council in 2005. Bike parking facilities must be added to any new building or any change-of-use to a building. That pertains to the central business district and all other business districts located within the city of Buffalo. The amount of rack spaces depends on the business and the number of parking spaces for employees. There are even specifications of how the bike rack should be built to accommodate the bikes, along with ideal placement for racks. In essence there should be around 5% the number of bike spaces in relation to the street parking spaces.” If those numbers are true, then that means that there should be a lot more bike racks around town than there currently are.
As far as the missing parking meters, Justin had this to say, “The City should do a better job at making sure that the existing biking ordinances are being followed. Public bike racks are important for any city. We’ve heard that businesses that want to purchase a bike rack from the city can’t figure out how to go about doing it. In some cities there are post cards that can be sent requesting bike racks. If a business on Court Street wanted a bike rack, then there is not a process yet to get one. Even if the business wanted to buy one they would still have to work with the city on installation… and once again there is no process. Blue Cross/Blue Shield did a great job with installing their bike racks. For a multi-million dollar building, a bike rack is not a lot of money. Just think of the quality of health for their employees. Buffalo Place has installed bike racks downtown, and they are used quite frequently.”
Now it’s up to The City to encourage more biking. A first step towards doing so is to give bikers a place to lock up. If you own a business in Buffalo, take a walk down the block and make sure that your business district is bike-friendly.
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Comment Options
Celia
I am all for my bike racks. Is the GBNTRC in on these things?
I'd also like to vote for the style of rack which is like a bunch of Ss--good for any kind of bike or lock. The old fashioned bar kind are a challenge if you just have a U-lock, which is the modern thing.
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bfotk
I take some personal credit for the creation of the bicycle parking ordinance [307-47.1] which was passed 5/31/2005 and theoretically effective 6/10/2005. I presented the idea to Mark Coppola, he asked for some documentation of similar ordinances in other cities, and various months later he sent a letter telling me that the article had passed.
As anyone can see, however, it has had little effect so far. I spent a lot of time this spring phoning developers and pointing out the existence of the regulation. They all said that they'd never heard of it.
One of the problems is that paragraph C of the ordinance has not been properly implemented. It starts out "The Commissioner of Public works shall adopt rules and regulations establishing the dimensional and equipment standards...."
Without such rulemaking, it's tough for developers, architects, and engineers to comply. I understand this oversight is being corrected.
In the meantime, I'm continuing to make phone calls when I see places being constructed with no provision for bicycle parking. I hope others will do the same.
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queenseyes
Thanks bfotk. I am sure that all bikers appreciate your efforts. Is there an email or a phone number that you would suggest for people? I learned the bike on an elevated planter trick from seeing another biker doing it in front of Holling Place Lofts. It was a bizarre sight until I realized that there was nowhere else to lock up a bike. Last weekend I had a meeting on Court Street at Taki's and when I pulled up this was the only option.
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bfotk
I take note of the "coming soon to this site" sorts of signs and call the companies mentioned there. Benchmark (where NWR is going) was a recent one I contacted. They routed my call to someone who never phoned back. I probably should try again.
A call to the Division of Inspections can be useful, too. They have people riding herd on commercial development sites.
By the way, the ordinance isn't just for new or enlarged buildings, a change to a parking lot also triggers the requirement for bike parking.
And in response to Celia, yes, the ordinance specifically cites the inverted U-type bicycle rack as a standard with other alternatives described.
The bike parking ordinance doesn't do much of anything at all for the situation described in your article. I hope the city steps up and installs proper locking facilities when meters go. In some cities, locking bikes to trees is prohibited. And in some locking bikes to meters and city signs is prohibited, too!
A problem is, I was once told, that businesses along commercial strips like Hertel and Elmwood tend not to view cyclists as customers but rather as people out for a bit of exercise and fresh air, unlikely to stop and shop. Certainly there's a fun factor in biking, but especially in the city, bikes are used at least as much for transportation as for recreation.
I note that the new bike racks at the IHOP on Delaware are pretty regularly occupied. I think that's an excellent advertisement for having them around.
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sbrof
Also look to the racks on UB south, they are constantly and utterly filled to capacity. The truth is that before the racks there were about 10-12 bikes locked up around the stop, with the racks there are about 10-12 bikes per rack. One simple truth to bike riders and city planners is that if you build the capacity for bikes then people will use them. The trick is making biking as convenient as driving.
We should look to Germany for a lot of potential inspiration for biking since like us in post war rebuilding went towards the car and only later in the 70-80's started to build and implement a bike network. They have hills, snow, wind just like buffalo and the US. They now have many thousands of people, commuting to businesses, work places, and shopping by bike all year round. Build the capacity, Build the education level of everyone using the streets and we can really make Buffalo a huge biking city.
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bflorox
I've also seen in other cities where the racks were adorned to make them more than just a bike rack, they became public art. For example, a large mallet and ball were attached to make the rack look like crouquet wickets and a head with legs and a tail with legs were attached to make the rack look like a slinky dog. People were even having their pictures taken with them.
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thestip
sbrof, excellent comments. I would also suggest looking at Montreal. I was there over the weekend and I was amazed by the sheer number of riders. Around their Metro stations they literally have entire stretches of parking lanes devoted to bike parking, where there are hundreds of bikes locked up. If I get a chance, I'll write up an article in the next day or two, with the pictures I took to illustrate what a bike friendly city really is.
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JBooth
bfotk - I admire your work on this issue and would love to talk to you more about cycling in Buffalo.
The League of American Bicyclists has the bicycle friendly community awards program which is great promotion and marketing for cities who win these designations. If look down the list they are all the cities that, when they come to mind, have a great quality of life for their residents. Cities such as - Seattle, Portland, Boulder, Madison, Chicago, Milwaukee, Louisville... Now more then ever is it important for cities to provide the facilities to make alternative modes of travel safe, and convenient for all people. There is a current emergence of issues that bikeable and walkable neighborhoods and communities can provide the solution for.
Its a great time to get out and explore our city by bicycle and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in making Buffalo a bicycle friendly community. If interested in how to get more involved please contact me at jbooth@buffalobluebicycle.org - thank you Buffalo Rising!
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