With cities switching to new pay kiosks, parking meters are going the way of the dodo- unfortunately for bikers, who use the posts for bike racks. A handful of cities are seeing the possibility in old posts.
Oakland, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have all developed unique solutions for turning parking meter posts into official bike racks.
"Daniel Egan, Manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure for the City of Toronto, said the parking managers were on the same page with his division when they began installing multi-space pay stations in early 2001. "Any time they were taking out a parking meter head, we would review them," he said. "Sometimes they were too close to the curb or to other structures, so they were removed."
For every parking meter the parking authority removed it would pay for a retrofit to old posts, what has been dubbed the Post and Ring. The initial metal rings were $40 a piece and were attached to the existing meter pole with large bolts. The complete retrofit cost was about $80 per post if they were keeping the original post, $125 per post if installing a new post."
FULL STORY: When Old Parking Meter Poles Go, So Often Does Bike Parking
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research