Do you think that a Local authority will ever charge for cycle parking?

[Gattopardo]

Background - well westminster recently introduced charging for ptw parking.  The council representatives stated that the reason was financial.  With less motorists parking in the congestion charging zone Westminster were losing parking revenue so have altered the way that PTW are charged so redressing the balance.  When people were surveyed, pre introduction, the majority were against the charging yet Westminster went ahead and stated that there would be difficult times during the transition period or wait till people got used to the idea/stopped complaining.

Do you think that there will ever be charging for cycle parking in a similar way?  How do you think the council will try to rationalise it or would the matter be wait till people got used to the idea?

Do you think a local councils will start this by enforcing cycles to park in designated parking areas first?

[Cunobelin]

All is fair in love, war and local Government revenue!

... and it's already here!

I think it was Chichester where I came across bicycle stands where you fit in to a slot and a bar then fits through the frame, locking bike into the frame. The key is released by placing non-refundable coins into the unit.

[PaulF]

Harder to enforce, unless we go down the path of registration for bikes .

The Chichester model is more of a 'rental' fee for the lock than a parking charge

[Jon P]

I'd welcome optional secure cycle parking at eg airports or train stations for say £1 per day.

[Jaded]

I see no reason why they shouldn't enforce cycle parking in designated areas. Many councils do this already by removing bikes parked in the wrong places!
I see no reason why a secure parking area with good access should be charged for either.

[PaulF]

I see no reason why they shouldn't enforce cycle parking in designated areas. Many councils do this already by removing bikes parked in the wrong places!
I see no reason why a secure parking area with good access should be charged for either.

I think that most people here would agree but I'm also not sure that we're a representative group either 

How much would people be prepared to pay for secure parking?

And what would constitute 'secure'? CCTV, a 'guarded' compound with entry via the 'parking ticket only', enclosed lockers or just decent stands?

I'd like to see it introduced but I'm not sure that the economics wold stack up - drivers are prepared to pay a lot for parking because they have no real  alternative (given that they're going to drive anyway), with a bike it's easy you can lock up almost anywhere and take your chance with the council's removal men.

[rogerzilla]

Bike lockers normally charge, I think.  Not that I've ever seen or used one.

[Regulator]

I see no reason why a secure parking area with good access should be charged for either.

In Holland there are large, secure bike parks.  Some are free, some are charged for.  In those that are charged for, the average was €1 for a day.

[JohnP]

I see no reason why they shouldn't enforce cycle parking in designated areas. Many councils do this already by removing bikes parked in the wrong places!
I see no reason why a secure parking area with good access should be charged for either.

Sorry jaded - can I just clarify?  Would you support charging ?

I'm not sure where I stand - it would be very difficult to enforce and could lead to some form of ownerid and/or road usage charge - I would be against the usage charge unless it was set low enough to represent the minimal damage done by cycles. If car usage drops as forecast by many, who will pay for  surface upkeep ?  Some roads are on a 25 years or longer maintenance cycle already.

I've ridden motorbikes since I was 17 and really haven't understood why I should expect free parking.  I have objected to paying the same price as a car or large people carrier but we frequently double up in a space and split the cost across two 'bikes.  Never yet been challenged by a jobs worth.  Maybe they simply appreciate the guesture.

Still, enough of this, time to get the bike out and enjoy a Sunday morning before the 3 grandsons descend on me later.

[Dora]

There's a euro style cycle parking compound in one of the car parks in Coventry city centre.  Staff on duty and entry via a card.  I think there was CCTV too.  The staff on duty said it was £10 a month to use, but they didn't know much else about it.  
I'd have used it if I needed secure parking, but I didn't.

[Jaded]

In this country I wouldn't mind seeing charging if it meant that there were good facilities in plenty of places. Cycling is private transport.

To add to that I'd also like there to be a charge for parking a car on the road. The road isn't provided for the storage of private possessions.

[mike]

there's a paid-for secure bit of the bike parking at the new shopping centre in cambridge, attached to the new bike shop.  It's right next to the almost as secure free bit so (not surprisingly) pretty quiet.   

[JohnP]

To add to that I'd also like there to be a charge for parking a car on the road. The road isn't provided for the storage of private possessions.

Thanks jaded, I thiught that was your msg but not quite how I read it first thing this morning.   Couple of expressos later and all is clear.

Agreed.  Maybe extra for the HGVs that seem to use out of town laybys for trailer storage and a neighbourhood shopping park for tractor storage.

But, I do have sympathy for HGV drivers and appreciate the job they do in supplying us with food etc, often at unsociable hours.

[LEE]

The Japanese Solution

Of course an NCP engineered solution would break down and then you'd have thousands of bikes all stuck in the system and queues of angry commuters with no bike and about to miss their train.

[keepontriking]

In Basingstoke there are some under cover cages that take a single bike. After putting your bike inside you can lock the cage up with your own lock. They are also under CCTV.

If you try and 'reserve' a cage by locking it without your bike inside, the security bods cut your lock off.

It seems a pretty good system.

[Tom B]

Is bike parking seen as a problem by the public? Given the love of cyclist-bashing in the yellow press, I think we'd hear about it if it was...
So far, availability of dedicated bike parking - where I live at least  - has kept up with increase in bike use. Transport planners might say it has encouraged it  And given the UK's preoccupation with pedestrian barriers, there's often a place to lock your bike unobtrusively when no dedicated spot is available.

When I lived in Japan in the 80s so-called 'bike pollution' was seen as an urban problem. So many cycled to the local station and left their bikes attached to street furniture that it did often obstruct the way. Dedicated, staffed bike parks came in a result of this. In Beijing at the same time they were everywhere - sometimes hundreds of bikes all propped up together. With a bit of political willlobbying from the likes of NCP, it wouldn't be hard to do the same here if the need arose. Not sure if i like the idea of this or not

[TimO]

To add to that I'd also like there to be a charge for parking a car on the road. The road isn't provided for the storage of private possessions.

In quite large areas of London, you do pay to park a car outside your own house, although I'll admit the cost is low compared to what you get.  I think buying a house with somewhere to park a car would have added £10000 to £20000 onto it's cost, whereas owning a single car costs me about £39 a year for a residents parking permit.

I think one of the main issues with charging for bicycle parking is cost.  A car parking space doesn't cost that much, when it is essentially created at the same time as the road is built and maintained.  A bicycle storage system that is capable of charging cyclists either needs special locks and/or boxes that take coins, or a secure area with a bod controlling access and taking charges off of people, or something in a similar vein which would require significant infrastructure construction costs.  Certainly for the current levels of bicycle usage, it probably wouldn't be cost effective.

Possibly if the number of cyclists in places like London went up extremely significantly, by which I mean numbers like a tenfold increase, then things may change, but this isn't going to happen in the very near future.