- 3,762
The Arch is 25 feet taller than the Space Needle, yet the Space Needle dwarfs it in the cartoon. St. Louis just can't win anywhere ever.
Over-inflated coastal egos. The Washington Monument is also shorter than the Arch. I think most people are really surprised when they see the Arch in person. It truly is an amazing monument that St. Louisans often take for granted.urban_dilettante wrote: ↑Nov 29, 2017The Arch is 25 feet taller than the Space Needle, yet the Space Needle dwarfs it in the cartoon. St. Louis just can't win anywhere ever.
I can confirm - I remember when I first came to St Louis for work some years ago, I was awed by the size of it!goat314 wrote: ↑Nov 30, 2017Over-inflated coastal egos. The Washington Monument is also shorter than the Arch. I think most people are really surprised when they see the Arch in person. It truly is an amazing monument that St. Louisans often take for granted.urban_dilettante wrote: ↑Nov 29, 2017The Arch is 25 feet taller than the Space Needle, yet the Space Needle dwarfs it in the cartoon. St. Louis just can't win anywhere ever.
Lawrence Solomon: Ban the bike! How cities made a huge mistake in promoting cycling: Cycling lanes consume more space than they free up, add to pollution and drain the public purse.
http://business.financialpost.com/opini ... ng-cycling
http://business.financialpost.com/opini ... ng-cycling
Besides the fact that he (purposefully, keep reading) ignores a wealth of scientific studies and evidence, he leads a "charity" that is known for lobbying against green energy and nuclear power, and denies manhebeters2 wrote: ↑Dec 05, 2017Lawrence Solomon: Ban the bike! How cities made a huge mistake in promoting cycling: Cycling lanes consume more space than they free up, add to pollution and drain the public purse.
http://business.financialpost.com/opini ... ng-cycling
I am not surprised, given that he works for a "charity" that focuses on lobbying against green energy, nuclear power, and denies man-made climate change.
^The larger/denser the city the more conflicts there can be for any new infrastructure, especially London. NYC's system is massive and is well liked, but it's also highly structured/regulated. KC is now at 41 stations but may be exploring smart bikes to be used at dumb racks, allowing much cheaper/quicker/broader expansion. If it has some structure dockless can work, like designated 'dumb' racks rather than allowing bikes being dropped off anywhere. And bike paths need to be more carefully thought out, not sharing roads with major auto traffic.
https://kc.bcycle.com/buzz/2017/12/07/r ... bike-share
https://kc.bcycle.com/buzz/2017/12/07/r ... bike-share
I agree, and that is why St Louis has so much potential in this respect, with a vastly underutilized transportation infrastructure system; roads are much wider than what average traffic warrants. There is a lot of potential for separated bike lanes a la Minneapolis.
- 53
Good morning. For those of you who are unaware, St. Louis City Board Bill No. 218 was presented to the Streets, Traffic and Refuse Committee on December 15, 2017 for introduction by sponsors Alderman Scott Ogilvie and Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia. Board Bill No. 218 would authorize rules and regulations to facilitate the regulation of a bike sharing program. [Document]: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/internal-app ... 8-wd24.pdf
- 53
- 3,762
^^ so what's the time frame for having a functioning bike share system? 20 or 30 years?
- 53
Depending on the city's legislative process, and if a bike share company signs on, we could see some sort of system possibly as early as this Spring.
urban_dilettante wrote: ↑Dec 28, 2017^^ so what's the time frame for having a functioning bike share system? 20 or 30 years?
Road my first bike share today (In Oakland, CA). After this I really hope we get one soon. Especially in the forest park area. It would be nice to be able to ride metro link then get on a bike and ride to the zoo etc. Same goes for many places that could make the metrolinks reach better. If I had the option to cut a mile or two walk into a mile or two bike ride from the metro it would make it a lot more attractive.
I used bike share a lot when I was living in NYC (Citibike) and let me tell you that while the city already had a substantial mass of bike commuters, biking conditions improved massively after the introduction of the bike share program (even if it was extremely flawed in design). The number of people biking (mostly in their own bikes!) increased substantially after Citibike was introduced.jshank83 wrote: ↑Dec 29, 2017Road my first bike share today (In Oakland, CA). After this I really hope we get one soon. Especially in the forest park area. It would be nice to be able to ride metro link then get on a bike and ride to the zoo etc. Same goes for many places that could make the metrolinks reach better. If I had the option to cut a mile or two walk into a mile or two bike ride from the metro it would make it a lot more attractive.
- 3,762
great news. we're long overdue for bike share. i'm not sold on the dockless systems though. the docks offer consistency and organization. my concern with no docks is that bikes are going to be haphazardly abandoned all over the place. are there penalties in place to prevent users from leaving a bike laying on its side in the middle of a sidewalk? in the street? is it up to company employees to go clean them up?
- 1,864
Typically, yes to all the above. In DC, you are charged up until you redock the bike, although I believe there is a max time (not sure what though) and they can see where the lost bike is. I actually reported a bike that was left at a random bike rack for a few days and they dispatched a “bike wrangler” to collect it.
Do these privately run bikeshares work? I've used many bikeshares in various cities (NYC, Washington, Montreal, Chicago, Denver, Portland). All of the country's major bikeshare programs are basically governmental entities, right?
The ability of a private company to implement this is concerning to me. I hope it works, but I'm not extremely optimistic.
The ability of a private company to implement this is concerning to me. I hope it works, but I'm not extremely optimistic.
From what I understand...eee123 wrote:Do these privately run bikeshares work? I've used many bikeshares in various cities (NYC, Washington, Montreal, Chicago, Denver, Portland). All of the country's major bikeshare programs are basically governmental entities, right?
The ability of a private company to implement this is concerning to me. I hope it works, but I'm not extremely optimistic.
- Each company will have a local staff who will manage relocation and maintenance. (LimeBike has said that rogue bikes should be relocated in 90 mins)
All of these companies appeared to be doing extremely well in DC. Temps this weekend were in the teens and all 3 private bikeshares were heavily used. Unfortunately, almost all Capital Bike stations were full of unused bikes.
A fourth of the price, easier to ride, better maintained, and more convenient.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- 3,762
Right, which is why I like the docks—the user has incentive (i.e. penalties) to return it to the appropriate place. How is such a thing accomplished with dockless? Like, how do they penalize me if I just drop my bike in the middle of the street? And how can they prove that somebody else didn’t chuck it there after I parked it neatly in an assigned spot? Can they track position that precisely?
They can create ‘no zones’ which means if you continuously park it in that area your membership could be revoked. They also incentivize people to ride misplaced bikes. Example, in DC, there are certain bikes that earn you a free ride if you ride them for more than 5 minutes.urban_dilettante wrote:Right, which is why I like the docks—the user has incentive (i.e. penalties) to return it to the appropriate place. How is such a thing accomplished with dockless? Like, how do they penalize me if I just drop my bike in the middle of the street? And how can they prove that somebody else didn’t chuck it there after I parked it neatly in an assigned spot? Can they track position that precisely?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- 592
The regulations ordinance sounds intense. Six full-time employees? Tons of fees, pass through penalty fees, requirements on how quick they have to expand... This is a nightmare of red tape.
NYC (Citibike) is the case I know best, and from what I understand it was a government concession to a private company. It was a public-private investment program, with Citigroup providing most of the funds. At some point (a couple years after it started), there was talk of the program running out of funds and possibly having to end unless Citigroup pumped more money or the city bailed them out. I guess one of them happened as the bikeshare program is still in place.eee123 wrote: ↑Jan 01, 2018Do these privately run bikeshares work? I've used many bikeshares in various cities (NYC, Washington, Montreal, Chicago, Denver, Portland). All of the country's major bikeshare programs are basically governmental entities, right?
The ability of a private company to implement this is concerning to me. I hope it works, but I'm not extremely optimistic.