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Here we go again: SMART VS. bikes
Author: The Odd Duck
Date: 09-01-2016 - 01:25
SMART urged to provide more bike parking
By Adrian Rodriguez, Marin Independent Journal
POSTED: 08/31/16,
Bike advocates are pushing for extensive bicycle parking racks, lockers and storage stations to coincide with SMART train service, but officials aren’t so sure.
Instead, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials have planned to offer parking for 10 bikes per train station and then study ridership trends, phasing in more bicycle parking as needed.
The draft plan released earlier this month does suggest that more bicycle parking will likely be needed. This includes at least four lockers at each train station, except for in downtown San Rafael where a 60-bike storage station is recommended.
“We already know people want lockers and secure parking, so why not provide it right off the bat,” said Bjorn Griepenburg, policy and planning director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.
Griepenburg praised SMART staff on their effort, saying the bicycle parking investment plan is “perhaps the most thorough parking plan” he has seen. The problem is “there is a huge disparity between what is installed and what is in the plan.”
Jeanne Belding, a SMART spokeswoman, said for opening day the plan is to go ahead with five inverted U-racks, each accommodating two bikes, for a total of 100 parking spaces across the 10 train stations. These are designed for short-term parking.
There are no bike lockers or bike stations planned to be ready for use by the time service begins. Belding said that could change, depending on community feedback and funding.
SMART trains are expected to roll out on the 43-mile route from north Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael later this year.
Recent ridership forecasts estimate about 3,070 daily passengers and about 300 on each weekend day. About 9 percent of peak commuters are expected to be bicyclists.
Associates with Nelson/Nygaard produced the bicycle parking report for about $100,000, Belding said.
Belding said the staff looked to BART and Caltrain for an example, but because they are set in urban areas and have an established ridership, it was difficult to know what to do with the information.
“We are starting from scratch: listening, learning and we are prepared to make adjustments,” she said.
The plan also recommends the downtown San Rafael station include an additional five U-racks, making 20 spaces available. At the Civic Center and Novato’s San Marin station, the report suggests each have 20 U-rack spaces also and eight lockers.
As for car parking, there are 331 spaces planned, including 115 spaces at Hamilton and 42 at San Marin. There is no car parking planned for the San Rafael stations other than nearby on-street parking.
Alisha Oloughlin, executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said this poses another problem.
“The lack of available car parking for train riders will increase demands for bike parking as riders realize it’s more convenient to ride and park a bike at the station,” she said. “This is a real concern because inadequacies in bike parking availability and security will likely dissuade potential bike-rail users.”
The rail agency has been criticized by bike advocates before, when it was slow to make way on a bicycle and pedestrian pathway between San Rafael and Santa Rosa.
The pathway was promised as part of Measure Q, a 2008 quarter-cent sales tax, along with the rail line from Larkspur to Cloverdale in Sonoma County.
SMART got the environmental clearance for that project in April.
The SMART Board of Directors reviewed the draft bicycle parking plan at an Aug. 17 meeting.
Farhad Mansourian, general manager of the rail agency, estimated that the plan would be about $500,000 to $600,000.
After hearing a presentation, board member Stephanie Moulton-Peters, a Mill Valley City councilwoman, said it’s a good first effort.
“I support the phased approach,” she said. “Start with something and build on it.”
Other board members sympathized with the bicyclists.
“Let’s do it once, do it right,” said David Rabbitt, a Sonoma County supervisor and board member. “It would be better to go a little further and push ourselves and not having to add later.”
The board will review the plan again at an October meeting. Comments can be submitted through Sept. 19 to LMeckel@SonomaMarinTrain.org.
The report can be viewed at bit.ly/2bKU5uE.
By Adrian Rodriguez, Marin Independent Journal
POSTED: 08/31/16,
Bike advocates are pushing for extensive bicycle parking racks, lockers and storage stations to coincide with SMART train service, but officials aren’t so sure.
Instead, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials have planned to offer parking for 10 bikes per train station and then study ridership trends, phasing in more bicycle parking as needed.
The draft plan released earlier this month does suggest that more bicycle parking will likely be needed. This includes at least four lockers at each train station, except for in downtown San Rafael where a 60-bike storage station is recommended.
“We already know people want lockers and secure parking, so why not provide it right off the bat,” said Bjorn Griepenburg, policy and planning director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.
Griepenburg praised SMART staff on their effort, saying the bicycle parking investment plan is “perhaps the most thorough parking plan” he has seen. The problem is “there is a huge disparity between what is installed and what is in the plan.”
Jeanne Belding, a SMART spokeswoman, said for opening day the plan is to go ahead with five inverted U-racks, each accommodating two bikes, for a total of 100 parking spaces across the 10 train stations. These are designed for short-term parking.
There are no bike lockers or bike stations planned to be ready for use by the time service begins. Belding said that could change, depending on community feedback and funding.
SMART trains are expected to roll out on the 43-mile route from north Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael later this year.
Recent ridership forecasts estimate about 3,070 daily passengers and about 300 on each weekend day. About 9 percent of peak commuters are expected to be bicyclists.
Associates with Nelson/Nygaard produced the bicycle parking report for about $100,000, Belding said.
Belding said the staff looked to BART and Caltrain for an example, but because they are set in urban areas and have an established ridership, it was difficult to know what to do with the information.
“We are starting from scratch: listening, learning and we are prepared to make adjustments,” she said.
The plan also recommends the downtown San Rafael station include an additional five U-racks, making 20 spaces available. At the Civic Center and Novato’s San Marin station, the report suggests each have 20 U-rack spaces also and eight lockers.
As for car parking, there are 331 spaces planned, including 115 spaces at Hamilton and 42 at San Marin. There is no car parking planned for the San Rafael stations other than nearby on-street parking.
Alisha Oloughlin, executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said this poses another problem.
“The lack of available car parking for train riders will increase demands for bike parking as riders realize it’s more convenient to ride and park a bike at the station,” she said. “This is a real concern because inadequacies in bike parking availability and security will likely dissuade potential bike-rail users.”
The rail agency has been criticized by bike advocates before, when it was slow to make way on a bicycle and pedestrian pathway between San Rafael and Santa Rosa.
The pathway was promised as part of Measure Q, a 2008 quarter-cent sales tax, along with the rail line from Larkspur to Cloverdale in Sonoma County.
SMART got the environmental clearance for that project in April.
The SMART Board of Directors reviewed the draft bicycle parking plan at an Aug. 17 meeting.
Farhad Mansourian, general manager of the rail agency, estimated that the plan would be about $500,000 to $600,000.
After hearing a presentation, board member Stephanie Moulton-Peters, a Mill Valley City councilwoman, said it’s a good first effort.
“I support the phased approach,” she said. “Start with something and build on it.”
Other board members sympathized with the bicyclists.
“Let’s do it once, do it right,” said David Rabbitt, a Sonoma County supervisor and board member. “It would be better to go a little further and push ourselves and not having to add later.”
The board will review the plan again at an October meeting. Comments can be submitted through Sept. 19 to LMeckel@SonomaMarinTrain.org.
The report can be viewed at bit.ly/2bKU5uE.
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 Here we go again: SMART VS. bikes |
The Odd Duck | 09-01-2016 - 01:25 |
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Re: Here we go again: SMART VS. bikes
|
BOB2 | 09-01-2016 - 06:53 |