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Only 24 percent of jobs in the region are accessible by transit in 90 minutes or less by a typical resident — and that number drops to 12 percent in the suburbs.

City Responds on Bicycle Parking/Meter Replacement

May 28, 2009 | by Active Trans

We received this formal comment from the Chicago Department of Tranportation spokesperson, Brian Steele:

CDOT’s Bike Program has already begun to address the impact of lost bike parking as a result of converting parking meters to pay-and-display areas.  This subject is addressed in the Bike 2015 Plan, but the acceleration of the parking-conversion effort requires the City to explore new ideas.

The Bike Program is already reviewing areas where meters have been removed for possible bike rack installation, based on requests from citizens and aldermen.  The best place to request a bike rack is through the Bike Program’s web site (www.chicagobikes.org/bikeparking) or by calling 311.  More than 11,000 bike racks have been installed citywide to date, and that number will continue to grow. 

In the short term, the City plans to leave 1-2 meter poles per block to serve as bike parking, when no bike rack is available nearby.

The City is also reviewing what’s occurred in other cities where parking meter conversions have occurred, and is exploring other equipment options that might be used to provide additional parking.

CDOT also continues to explore other funding sources for bike parking, in addition to the state and federal grant dollars we receive.

We recognize that the loss of parking meters will pose a challenge to some cyclists.  We are committed to minimizing that impact, and to doing so on as an aggressive timeline as possible.