Parkiteer

What do you reckon motorists would say when the RACV announced a terrific new plan for car parking at train stations whereby:

• There are 19 car parks at each station?
• You can secure access to a park on an ongoing basis for a $500 deposit?*
• You can't park at any other station than the one you are booked for?
• If someone doesn't use their spot, even on a weekend, no-one else can?

This is essentially the Parkiteer scheme being put forward by BV at present. This is tokenism at it's worst. Not only is it a crap scheme but you can bet your life that the poor utilisation of it will lead to it being used as an excuse for not spending on bicycle commuting.

How is 19 bike spots doing anything for "More People Cycling, More Often". It's rubbish. And it'll be used to try to get us to accept that bikes can't be taken on trains. Don't even think about it, Harry!

So now I've ranted, what do I want? What would be acceptable bike parking?

• Somewhere I can safely leave my bike while I use public transport or keep the option to use public transport open.
• At the station of my choice on a given day. Somedays I may want to ride further than others. Somedays I may need to go somewhere different.
• I need to be sure I can find a spot for my bike when I get there. This means not 19 bike spots but hundreds.
• It needs to be at a reasonable rate. $2 to $4 seems fair.

Given that at most stations I can park my car for free, there are hundreds of parks and each car takes up 10 to a dozen bike spots, these don't seem like ridiculous expectations. FFS BV, pull your heads out of your arses and start REALLY standing up for cyclists needs instead of allowing us to be fobbed off with dangerous bike lanes, crap - half built bike paths, and total rubbish bike parking schemes.

I want to be able to ride to the city, park my bike securely for a reasonable fee, go to the movies or a gallery and then have the option of taking my bike home on the train if the great flood revisits us. If I'm riding to work, I need to be able to securely park my bike at a station part way, and take public transport the rest of the way. This might not be the same station every day. If I go shopping, I want somewhere to park my bike there too. How about someone put that forward with a bit of force?

*I've based my $500 deposit on the fact that they want $50 for a bike and that a car takes up about 10 times more space.