of Bikestation
Bikestation is a non-profit that has helped develop secure bike parking facilities in many cities across the country. There are currently six Bikestations, one in Seattle and the others in California.
The city of Portland has discussed a potential Bikestation facility for many years. Last night I bumped into their Executive Director, 32 year-old Andrea White (photo, right). Andrea has been working to bring one to Portland for the last two years.
I asked her where things stood.
Andrea says they have proposals on the table from several groups and that one local bike shop has stepped to the forefront,
“We are in advanced discussions with the Bike Gallery to be a local operating partner. They have the credibility, resources and a strong advocacy focus that we really appreciate.”
Rather than build and operate the facility themselves, Andrea said Bikestation prefers to partner with local bike shops and/or other businesses and community groups to manage the facilities.
What are the possible locations of a Portland Bikestation?
Andrea says they’re looking at the upcoming development at First and Main (which you might recall I hinted at back in May). They are also looking at a facility in Portland State University‘s (PSU) new (and expanded) bike shop, and my favorite location, Pioneer Courthouse Square at the old Powell’s travel bookstore site (which is now vacant).
Andrea plans to visit Portland in April and she will meet with stakeholders from PSU, PDOT, and others.
I told Andrea to keep me posted on any developments.
UPDATE: I regret that I referenced Bike Gallery’s involvement with Bikestation prematurely, without clarifying the facts with Bike Gallery owner Jay Graves. I learned some important facts from him this morning:
- Yes, Bike Gallery plans to partner with Bikestation in Portland.
- But, it will likely be a year or two before it happens.
- And, Bike Gallery plans (and has planned all along) to donate any and all profits directly to non-profit groups.
And that’s just the start. Jay has more exciting plans and ideas for a future Portland Bikestation. I will do a more in-depth interview with him early next week. Please stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
Interesting, Jonathan. Thanks for the update. Have you spoken with the folks over at Bike Republic as well? http://www.bikerepublic.org/
Does Andrea need anyone to show her around town when she visits in April? I’ll volunteer…
Sharp elbow to AO, shoving him into a corner. Sorry about that man.
I’ll show her around Jonathan. AO is not feeling well.
You guys beat me to it. I encourage Jonathan to write a bunch more stores about Bikestation, and include, um, more pictures.
**Jim F (and everyone else): Please resist the temptation to comment about Andrea’s personal appearance. Let’s stick to the topic. Thanks.**
pioneer square would be awesome!!!
Sorry to rain on everyones parade, but how does this really benefit us? One secure location in town is not really going to boost bike commuting. Or benefit more than a handful of current riders.
You have to be a member to use these facilities. It does not look like your average Jane can just ride up and secure her bike. So it looks like it benefits only those commuting near wherever the plunk this down..
A yearly membership is $120 dollars. That would be a very nice u-lock and cable. The price alone will discourage its use.
It just seems overpriced and only geared to benefit a very small percentage of our community.
For those saying Bike Gallery does nothing to help the community: HMPH! 😉
I agree Steve.
I have tried to be a nice, but outspoken voice against such bike stations.
It is just like the bicycle commuter act, which benefits the choice few, not the actual normal cyclist such as we have here in Portland..
Too much emphasis is being put on, (and many will have a problem with me saying this), bicycle projects that affect the few that can and will be able to pony up the charges for, or happen to work for the right corporation that will pay for such amenities.
In the case of a bike station, if our tax dollars are used to develop it, our hard earned income should not be again used to keep it running.
In the case of a privately owned bike station, charge what you want, and keep my tax dollars out of the development.
In case you don’t know it, a large percentage of cyclists in the City of Portland have a hard enough time making sure that there is enough food in their belly to make it through the commute to work.
They work hard to make little, and besides the joy and obvious benefit to their bodies, receive no accolades for commuting on a bicycle and saving fossil fuels.
For many people, $120 is the food budget for one month, if they are lucky…..
A big dose of reality, followed by a spoonful of sugar, is what a lot of these ideas need…..
The Bike Gallery, like any other business would only be involved with this for two reasons.
1) Advertising/marketing.
2) A share of the revenue generated.
Probably both…
The animosity does not make sense. Lack of secure bike storage and shower facilities is an impediment to many potential cyclists.
Many people can afford $120 each year for such a service. These people are no less real than those that cannot afford the service.
Such facility would be a good thing.
Dabby and Steve-
What exactly is that “large percentage” and where do you rent a shower and lockers in the Downtown location?
Okay- I agree that it might not benefit you (immediately and short sightedly), and it may not provide you the “accolades” that you so richly deserve, but perhaps this service is not meant for you.
Maybe this is meant to knock down yet another hurdle for those Portlanders who do not commute by bike. Perhaps they need a secure place to lock their bike, or a locker room. Maybe this will turn a couple of car commuters into bike commuters.
Do you not see the value in this? Can you understand why creating more bike commuters might be a good thing?
The trouble is that there is only one of these! I am not upset that it won’t benefit me. I would not use it even if I worked right next door. It is a useless idea for virtually everyone and only marginally helpful to a select few.
How about a law requiring employers to offer a similar service to all employees? All new buildings and remodels requiring these services to be installed. Charge money for cars going into downtown! Nearly anything but this useless blight!
I view it like our disgraceful Tram. Expensive and only serving a tiny percentage of the popultation.
“The trouble is that there is only one of these!”
One today, sure. But it’s a step in the right direction. Society won’t change overnight. Each one of these things makes a difference, however small…the same way that each of us riding each day makes a positive difference. This negativity is unwarranted. This is a good thing.
“How about a law requiring employers to offer a similar service to all employees? All new buildings and remodels requiring these services to be installed. Charge money for cars going into downtown! Nearly anything but this useless blight!”
Yeah, how ’bout it? Complaining about a Bikestation won’t bring these changes about. Only YOUR advocacy will. So, quit whining and get busy working to make it happen. And please stop crapping on the (tiny) positive changes that are happening.
Your “tiny” positive changes are the only ones happening. This is not a solution to our problems, it is an example of them.
The reason other more desireable changes are not enacted, is that these wasteful and useless projects are backed by the wealthy and marketed to the wealthy. You know the type real well I am sure AO! Just liberal enough to sleep at night, not quite liberal enough to incur any lifestyle encumberances.
I do not feel this is a step in the right direction at all. It is like building a new private gym. Pay your membership, get a locker and a shower. I see no way that this will boost overall ridership.
But hey, so long as they aren’t wasting tax money, or subsidizing the land or construction, let them build as many as they want! So long as our tax money is involved, do you suppose it is alright for me to have an opinion? Pretty please?
This project will not alter our current transportation problems at all. 10 of them would not change much of anything and we have yet to see even one…
*Final paragraph deleted for inappropriate tone targeted at another commenter. Folks, keep it constructive please.*
steve,
your tone is getting very antagonistic and I don’t appreciate it.
Please do not demean or incite other readers when making your points.
I have deleted your final paragraph.
steve, I really appreciate your contributions but I just have a very low tolerance for this sort of thing.
thanks.
I am sorry you are having to take time away from your trip to moderate. Sorry!
In my defense, I thought it was a playful paragraph and not meant to be hateful, at least in my mimd. It was most certainly antagonizing however..
AO has proven himself to have a thick skin and is not shy about antagonizing others. I would direct your attentions to his last paragraph, if you wish to know why I retorted in the way I did.
Thanks for keeping us up to date on the summit, and for providing us this forum.
sheesh! is there a bike version of the waaaambulance? i think i shall call it! steve: $120 WOULD be a very nice u-lock and cable. and even with those fancy pieces of equipment, many people still wouldn’t feel secure parking their nice and/or sentimental bikes in an area of high theft (you know, like near psu).
and dabby: who exactly is your normal cyclist? is it you? is it the people that you or i see riding around most regularly? simply because a certain type of cyclist doesn’t fit into your definition (or mine, for that matter) of a “portland” rider doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be addressing their needs and encouraging them to ride more often. i see very few riders of color, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t out there or that we shouldn’t be doing more to encourage biking among them. and please, $120 a month for food? what on earth are you eating? lay off the caviar and save some of that skrilla for a bikestation membership!
Wow! I’m sorry I missed that, whatever it was. I hope it was something salacious about me and my new girlfriend, Andrea White.
And steve’s sorry … to … Jonathan. So I guess everything’s OK. So let’s let ‘er rip:
“You know the type real well I am sure AO! Just liberal enough to sleep at night, not quite liberal enough to incur any lifestyle encumberances.”
I do. I’m surrounded by them every day. Some of them aren’t even liberal!
There is a sizeable minority of these people who are on the fence when it comes to bike commuting. They feel the moral tug and see the excitement but they really like their plushy car, especially when it’s 35 and raining. If things were safer and easier, there is some chance they would get on the bike regularly. Every single one of those people would be a step forward for biking in Portland. We will build bike city one rider at a time.
These people who will patronize Bikestation tend to be more affluent, and I think that’s what this is really about steve: You resent them (or me?) because they seem privileged. Fair enough.
They have some disposable income, are more likely to vote; they are more likely to hold some sway with the powers that be, for better or worse. Some of them probably actually work next door to me at City Hall. These people are some of the easiest to convince and some of the best allies to have as we work to create bike-friendly policies.
Scoff if you will. It is perhaps a pittance in the big picture. But no one of us is going to transform Portland by him or herself. We will all have to do things. I will give a seminar at my firm on how to become a bike commuter. What will you do, steve?
Why, under almost every idea floated about this site, is there someone (Dabby! Okay not just Dabby, but generally Dabby…) dissing it as not useful to their own person and therefore not useful to the Portland community at large?
Dude. Some people who might not otherwise bike to work because they have no access to a shower or don’t have a safe parking sitch for their bike, might see the ol’ Bikestation as that one little thing that suddenly makes bike commuting a possibility. And that’s what a Bikestation really comes down to for many people: POSSIBILITY + POTENTIAL.
I personally have access to both a shower and an office that looks better dressed out with a bike, but having these amenities don’t cloud my vision regarding what a drag and/or impediment it is for others not to have them.
It’s interesting that there are readers of this site complaining about the possibility of tax dollars aiding the realization of a BIKE COMMUTER AMENITY. If a partially tax-financed Bikestation was erected and I never used it once, I’d still find a lot more satisfaction in this taxpayer purchase, than say the OHSU tram, which genuinely benefits the few and will never create a single additional bike commuter.
Despite the certainty from the Sages of Portland Bicycling that few will actually use a facility that will no doubt be located in a high-density downtown area….I can easily visualize a bustling little hub of commuters riding in and parking their bikes before the workday starts. Reading the Bikestation stats doesn’t quite conjure up the elitism that Steve at 15 is projecting on the idea. I respect that not all cyclists can afford $120. a month for bike parking and shower access, but plenty of them could, and getting this first phase of potential commuters on the bike is a super small step…
AO @ 14: last paragraph echos my thoughts.
AO and TonyT @ 2 + 3: ha, that was cute!
ahh come on, this thread was so much better when everyone was stumbling over themselves to hit on Andrea.
Jonathan thanks for hooking up with Andrea during your busy time in DC. I hope you get a chance to go over to Union Station and see where the first bikestation on the East Coast will be built (2008).
As for the discussion so far on this post…let us clarify some of the misconceptions mentioned.
COST: Bikestation provides BOTH paid membership parking and free valet parking. The free parking is only available during station hours, so those that want 24/7 access to their bike pay to be a member – it is that simple. Only the new Palo Alto Bikestation is a member only parking facility…as it is unmanned due to its shop not being open during station reconstruction work.
NETWORK: We all agree that a network of bikestations is the best deal…we currently are the ONLY US bike parking effort to provide a regional network…Portland being the missing link in the chain. And a local network of three or more bikestations will better serve Portland, but this costs money. Angel investors have not blessed Bikestation yet (like Flexcar, Zipcar, etc.), so it relies on local initiatives and funding or board member donations. Perhaps this is a strength so as to give each bikestation the flavor of its community and independent operator – like your neighborhood coffee shop serving Stumptown. Let Portland set the tone and service once it opens a bikestation(s).
Bikestation’s ‘fare box recovery’ rate is over 50% vs. 20 to 30% for many urban transit agencies. The rest is covered by grants, facility consulting, rent breaks, etc. – these cover the bike social services like free bike parking, commuter or tourist aid, being located in challenging locations (inside subway stations, etc.). If one were to interview the bikestation mechanics and staff they would likely tell you that they see all types parking their bikes on any given day…the racks are not filled with carbon fiber frames and campy gear…but a mix.
PORTLAND: AO is correct we are trying to grow the diversity and depth of bicycling in Portland and not just rest on those currently doing very well by the existing conditions. Portland needs to hit 10% bike commuting mode split before things really take off.
Bikestation has talked to many property owners, agencies, private investors, advocates, and end users about a Portland bikestation over the last 5 years. Andrea and I met with the BikeRepublic, Melvin and Mark, PSU, LDTMA, CoP, etc. back during her last tour of Portland in 2005 (as part of Pedal Palooza). And I continue to do so whenever new sites or proposals emerge from local interests.
COMPETITION: There is also the possible outcome that bikestation may not be involved with the first bike parking station in Portland. PSU or BikeRepublic may be the first to open. It all depends on luck, the RFP, how the partnerships develop, and timing. Portland may develop an independent multi facility model…like the Bay Area has with its 5 different operators…though this is maturing into network alliances.
Those of you willing to learn more about bikestation or have further discussions about better bike parking in Portland, just drop me a line or buy me a beer when you see me riding around town. I would also suggest that you visit bikestations or other bike parking stations during your travels. (And keep your eye on BikePortland for updates, like our next presentation during Andrea’s visit to Portland in April.)
Todd Boulanger
Bikestation Board Member
PO Box 61542
Vancouver, WA 98666-1542
oulanger@excite.com
http://www.bikestation.org
Bikestation membership is cheaper than a car.
A lot of the jobs I’d like to have in order to move up in the world, provide for my family, and be a part of changing things for the better don’t allow me to show up all biked up in the morning. $120 is way cheaper than a car payment and parking. It’s not much more than my tri-met pass and I like biking better than the bus. A bike station downtown is a good solution for a smalltime guy like me who needs to wear a suit but wants to ride a bike, can’t afford a car and dislikes riding the bus.
As far as griping about tax payer contributions for sucha project: you sound like car drivers whining that some tax money might have paid for the bike racks on buses.
What is with the whiners on here? Nothing better to do than poke holes in every little bit of forward momentum, progress or potential good press bikes get in this town? If its not how *you’d* do it, or if there’s any association with a bike shop with more than 2 employees, then its worthless and just shameful marketing and someone’s gotta be profitting off it right? Gawd its just gross.
Todd-
Thank you for clearing up a few misconceptions. I guess a couple of guys will have to get hard to work finding other reasons this project will fail.
I mean, come on- it’s not like Portland has enough bike commuters to support this sort of endeavor; we’re not Seattle of . I hear everyone up there rides bikes made of platinum and carbon. And yes, their Gu flasks are filled with caviar (davey-o 17).
Todd of Bikestation said: “Jonathan thanks for hooking up with Andrea during your busy time in DC.”
Uh-oh, AO and Tony T, looks like you’re too late.
Sorry, Jonathan – couldn’t resist
Anyway, who’s to know that Andrea would be looking for male companionship anyway?
But seriously, I agree with sh (post 19) – why summarily dismiss an idea that has the potential of turning a motorist into a cyclist? We need ideas that will not only benefit those of us who already commute by bike but will convince others to join us. The more of us there are, the more power we will have to get more benefits. And hell yes this is what I want my taxes to go toward. Better this than military protection of oil fields . . .
Sorry folks, you get your opinions just like we get ours! Welcome to democracy and free thought. You all are acting like this is your pet project or something. Blind boosterism of what ever project is currently being rammed forward is in no ones best interest.
Even if you are right and others are wrong, the debating of ideas openly is what moves us collectively forward. Why do you feel the need to shout down contrary thought?
It’s not like we are drivers on here bashing the idea! I am a middle class home-owning, non-driving daily cyclist. This project is catering to my demographic. Why is my opinion on this matter less valid than your own? I pay taxes just like you!
Disagreement is not “whining”! You all sound like fox news to me.
Cecil, you said-
“why summarily dismiss an idea that has the potential of turning a motorist into a cyclist”
I am dismissive of the idea, as I do not think it has any chance of acheiving the goals you attribute to it. Do you think that I want fewer people riding bikes? Do any of you know how I spend my days and at what level I participate in advocacy?
The lack of analytical thought and critical thinking shown in some of your posts is very troubling.
Why do you summarily embrace every idea that has the word bike in it?
Steve, I initially thought I should just ignore your personal attack in post #26, but decided that I could not just let it lie. Jonathan may choose to delete the following, but then again he might think that it is an appropriate posting:
I am puzzled by your attack on everyone who has disagreed with your position. You state that we “get our opinions” just like you get yours, but then you attack us for stating them. Granted, calling people whiners is not a very good way to dvance discourse, but then neither is calling anyone who disagrees with your position a “blind booster.” The point of these conversations is to learn what others have to say about the issue. To turn around and accuse those who disagree with you as being incapable of critical thought is the least convincing form of rhetoric. As for what ideas I personally have and have not “embraced,” I have simply offered support for the bikestation concept and for some sort of transportation fringe benefits for bike commuters if it can be worked out in a way that makes sense. I have not summarily dismissed anyone’s thought’s, I have merely questioned some of the first principles behind those postings. I have also questioned whether some of the ideas being advanced by the politicians and by posters to this blog are workable. I have sought clarification of other poster’s ideas, and I have offered my understanding of how those ideas might or might not work – if that shows a troubling lack of critical thinking, I guess I am guilty as charged. I will also plead guilty to the occasional weak attempt at humor in some posts. Perhaps those are the ones that are troubling.
Steve, I am not trying to pick a fight with anyone. My goal is to have more people on bikes and less people in cars. I will continue to view any attempts to reach that goal as positive until proved otherwise. At this point we have no proof that the ideas being floated here won’t work, and so yes, I am inclined toward embracing them. If you want a list of bike ideas I don’t embrace, I would be happy to provide it.
“Why do you feel the need to shout down contrary thought?”
We don’t want to shout you down, steve. We just want to point out that you’re wrong on this one.
Please don’t resort to ad hominem attacks and then lecture us on shouting down and the value of open debate of ideas. You lost your credibility there with me.
And speaking of a troubling lack of critical thinking:
“One secure location in town is not really going to boost bike commuting. Or benefit more than a handful of current riders. … It just seems … only geared to benefit a very small percentage of our community.”
So, that’s a boost to bike commuting beyond the status quo. And these statements are internally contradictory.
“You have to be a member to use these facilities. It does not look like your average Jane can just ride up and secure her bike.”
As discussed in posts above, you were simply wrong here. They have valet, man! Valet! Is this the kind of “blind boosterism” you were referring to?
“The price alone will discourage its use.”
Perhaps for some, but clearly there is a market here, or they wouldn’t be in biz. Although I am aware they are a not-for-profit, they still would not be opening stations without demand. So there’s no evidence that your assertion here is accurate, either.
In fact, I’ll make you a bet. I’ll be you that, if they open a station in downtown PDX, it will become so popular that there will be a waiting list for spots.
No one is trying to take away your opinion, man. But some semblence of support for your conclusions might help you to avoid becoming so defensive.
I have been searching google for awhile trying to find any statistics that show an increase in overall ridership in cities where this service exists. No luck yet!
It would seem to be a very valuable bit of info for this discussion. Anyone know? It seems a wee bit silly to be debating the benefits of a yet to be enacted service without knowing how that service has impacted the communities it is already in.
I would love to be pleasantly surprised by this, until someone produces information supporting the claims being made, I prefer to remain sceptical.
Long experience with non-profits and publically subsidized programs, with lots of peoples incomes on the line has fostered this healthy scepticism in me.
I agree AO that this will be popular with the current riders of whichever part of town this program winds up in.
This is being sold to us as a plan to at least partly, encourage new riders. That is the piece of this puzzle I am most troubled by. Followed closely by the fact that it will no matter what, only benefit a small segment of the population. Simply due to geographical constraints.
And I just can’t resist AO, your posts have ventured into ad hominem attacks on many occaisions. That has yet to lessen your credibility with me though!
Oh sheesh!
Essentially Steve, unless someone throws down stats proving that a Bikestation in PDX will create more commuters, you’re anti-Bikestation, ja?
Additionally, you’re anti-any tax dollars supporting a Bikestation for reasons of elitism and the fact that at the moment there is discussion of a single facility. I’m also assuming from your Healthy Skepticism on the issue that even if there were multiple facilities being discussed you would still find the ultimate number wanting.
The two services aren’t identical, yet I can’t help referring to the BTA’s event parking service. The fact that the BTA offers a free service to park your bike and ensure its safety from theft at events has encouraged me and many friends to ride to certain things that we might not be inclined to otherwise. Sure, it’s anecdotal, but i think we can safely say that many others have been encouraged to ride their bikes because this service MAKES IT EASY. And when things are easy, we’re more inclined to participate in them.
And now there’s nice little Bikestation, trying to MAKE THINGS EASY for existing and potential commuters… you don’t have to give knee-jerk support to the idea, but damn, you certainly don’t need to broadcast the knee-jerk negativity either, nope.
Municipalities (Portland aside) don’t really keep good estimates of bike ridership. Bikestation no doubt has some data, but it is protected as strategic market knowledge. So you’re probably not going to get any good data showing increases in ridership…especially via google.
That said, I’m sure one bikestation would not produce a statistically significant increase in ridership. That’s why I described the increase as “tiny” some time ago. Even if the increase is negligable, the cultural value is significant. This is obviously more difficult to quantify, but the OVERWHELMING consensus here on Bikeportland seems to be that it’s real. Its “benefit” beyond the “small segment” who use the facility is somewhat intangible. But I think this is the core of the value many people see the Bikestation providing.
Don’t be a Negative Nancy. Enthusiasm is contagious. Bike City will be built one rider at a time.
Two more key points about Bikestation: First, and most importantly, Andrea White. Beauty, brains, and bikes…’nuff said. Second — say it with me — VALET. That’s stylin, yo.
And Bike City will be built one rider at a time.
I have asked Andrea to read this blog article. We will try to reply to the previous request for data and prepare a short reply for BikePortland next week. She is out of the office in DC at the Bike Summit (of course).
Bikestation has conducted past survey(s) of users at some bikestations and found a sizable minority of users to be ‘new bicyclists’ using this service at our bike+transit hubs.
[I do not have the report in front of me, as I am at home…but I THINK the survey was conducted at the Long Beach facility and there was ~30% new bicyclists. Most of whom are LIKELY using the valet service. Bikestations usually have from ~80 to ~200 parking spaces.]
Also, those who want to know more about the bikestation concept or how to get one for your city, transit hub, university, etc. Log on to:
http://www.bikestation.org/FAQS.asp
In reference to Steve’s data request in post #29; I spoke to Andrea…
The low-down on the survey is…on average 30% of bicyclists parking at bikestation are new to bicycling and this is definitely a trend at this network of facilities.
Every survey Bikestation has taken over the last 11 years reinforces the above findings. (And reinforces the 1992 FHWA study.) Bikestation conducts these surveys every couple of years among all its facilities, pretty scientifically. Only Berkeley has been surveyed only once.
The surveys are administered both at the facility and through an online link to members and non-members [who valet bike park at a bikestation].
Is that the only question they ask on the survey? If you are new to cycling?
Do they ask if they are new to cycling because of the station? Do you have any statistics as to numbers of cyclists in the area before and after the station arrived?
Not trying to hassle you, I am just curious. The statstic you cite above seems pretty irrelevant to the questions asked by others.
Edward I will ask Andrea to address your question.
The bikestation web site has a new page with links devoted to advocates and developers looking for more planning information on what a bikestation is and the costs of the various service levels.
http://www.bikestation.org/Development/Development.asp
Bikestation is a nice idea, but I think the whole idea of a bike parking garage is flawed. They don\’t market it as such, but that is what it is. In the USA people value their bikes too much. Until bicycles are as valuable as Yugo, and all are the same (like in Holland), people will want to keep thier bikes close (in their cubicle). Bikestation has the right idea, but using public money is not the right approach. For it to work, they need showers (or not, Americans need to ride slower and not be super sweaty, then no showers are needed), 24/7 human security, one-way-in one-way-out (like a car parking garage) and pay by the hour parking, like for cars. Hell, just use the car model. Use private money like car garages. The only problem is, is bikes don\’t own the streets, yet….. Good luck Andrea, Todd and the rest of you BS folks!