SFist: What We Need Is A Bike Valet

zig

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:49:23 -0800

so if I understand this correctly their business model is to offer free bike parking and to engender good will so people will buy bike related things from them? Is this a totally independent business? Or do they receive subsidizes? It would be nice if Bart stations had more of these

murphstahoe

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:10:21 -0800

It seems to me all clifbar is doing is pointing out that WPB still has some kinks that need to be worked out before being blindly hailed as the most amazing thing to come to bike commuters since painted bike lanes. One can debate how great the bike lanes are... sigh...

clifbar

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:48:04 -0800

Let's see: on the one hand, a buried post in an internet message board, and on the other, a facility that advertises its own self as a target with a big red banner that says "BIKES PARK HERE" and glass walls on multiple sides. Yeah, clearly the internet poster is the one going to great lengths. It's the Dick Cheney school of "you're a traitor simply if you talk about what our weaknesses are."

Aventinus

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:34:33 -0800

"clifbar - are you going to great lengths to point out to any bike thieves that WPB would be an AWESOME place to break into at night?" Doubtful, but it sounds like that's what the WPB is doing by freely giving out such information to people. It seems to me all clifbar is doing is pointing out that WPB still has some kinks that need to be worked out before being blindly hailed as the most amazing thing to come to bike commuters since painted bike lanes. Of course, maybe you'd rather have incomplete information so you can get self-righteously pissy if your bike got stolen while in WPB's custody.

murphstahoe

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:51:38 -0800

clifbar - are you going to great lengths to point out to any bike thieves that WPB would be an AWESOME place to break into at night?

clifbar

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:34:04 -0800

The operative word is "secure," SanFranCitizen. Sure, bikes apparently sit there overnight. But the worker there told me that the facility is not set up for secure overnight parking due to its vulnerabilities. The worker was clearly not the proprietor, whom she gladly phoned when I questioned the logic of that policy; whatever manager she reached confirmed it.

SanFranCitizen

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:56:11 -0800

@Clifbar Maybe you should check before posting. Your bike is parked free for up 2 days and then after that late fees apply. http://www.warmplanetbikes.com/parking.shtml

clifbar

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:42:08 -0800

"Looks like the perfect place to drop in and do a bump of gak before doucheing it up at Critical Mass." Confirmed. Last September they abandoned the whole outfit at Critical Ass time, to the dismay of this regular bike commuter. Nice one. And, Jonathan calls WPB "secure bike parking." Last I checked, it's not secure for overnight parking, just for during-the-day parking. By contrast, Palo Alto has always been both.

KWillets

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:46:38 -0800

The cynics are right. There's also a fair amount of group paralysis in solving the problems. I suspect that if Caltrain had a fair refund scheme for bicyclists who are denied service, more capacity would magically be found.

MalcoveMagnesia

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:10:21 -0800

I used to commute every day in the Caltrain bike car. Nice to see the traffic jam in the car is still as congested as ever.

Incandenza

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:43:32 -0800

Looks like the perfect place to drop in and do a bump of gak before doucheing it up at Critical Mass.