Zipcars, More Bike Parking
On Tap For Union Station

It's nice they are trying to accommodate electric cars with a charging station, but why not mopeds which are not allowed to be parked anywhere in the garage?

I second Bill's question. I've been asking about this for 2 years. There is nowhere you can park a scooter. It would seem logical that they could accommodate us at a bike rack (I'd guess about 5 of us do this - what do you think, Bill?) but they've so far refused.

Although the League of Liberal Elite Radical Bikists (LLERB, although often identified in public with the more benign alias, Elm City Cycling) meets monthly (second Monday at 6:00) in its secret headquarters (second floor City Hall conference room), the issue of scooter parking has never come up, despite its obvious role in helping to destroy automobile hegemony and with it, good old-fashioned American civilization as envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

Anyone interested in opening a discussion about scooter parking, and whether and how it can be incorporated into an ongoing effort to increase secure and accessible bicycle parking throughout the city, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Ha!

You elitist bikists, with your open websites, accessible public meetings, and devotion to openness, transparency, and inclusion... It's people like you that cause unrest :)

I was excited about the prospect of getting a scooter this summer and riding it to the train station, but then I saw a scooter parked at the bike rack with a orange warning sticker. I asked the parking attendant and was told scooters are not allowed. Since according to state law, scooters under 50cc are considered motor assisted bicycles I don't see how they can discriminate, but I'm not a lawyer.

allan, I wish you would do a followup on what if anything, they are doing to make our bikes more secure. I expected to read something about that when I clicked on this story, as a followup to the fellow whose bike was cut up at union station.

The scooter outcry is something city hall should listen to. Take 2 more spaces out of commission in the garage and run a pilot program of free daily parking for scooters for 6 months, monitor the use and expand until demand is met. Then set a prorated charge for scooter parking. The monitoring shouldn't be a big hassle since it will only take 15 minutes a day to record use. The $ payoff may be break-even but it will probably take cars off the road and lessen car parking pressure in the garages (net positive).

Bill-

I've tried the 50cc explanation before. It doesn't matter to them.

In general, I've found this issue to be incredibly frustrating. I posted on See Click Fix about it. I've called. I've emailed. I've been polite, and tried being more pushy.

Not once have I been able to speak with a reasonable human being who's been willing to acknowledge that scooter parking is an issue worth considering. Right now, it seems, they just don't care. The last time I spoke to someone in that office, they asked me why I didn't drive a car instead.

My scooter is the width of 2 bicycles. If I was commuting from any other station on the Metro North line, I would have no trouble parking it. Union Station is the outlier here, yet it seems impossible to find anyone there who's willing to discuss this like an adult.

Allan, thank you once again for your careful attention to an issue affecting cyclists in New Haven. Your efforts are widely appreciated!

News that this project is shovel-ready is most welcome, and the NH Parking Authority deserves our kudos for bringing the bike shelter to fruition, even if the timeframe has lapsed by several months.

I would emphasize, though, that much work remains to be done to make bike routes to Union Station feel safe for cyclists of all ability levels. To its credit, the City of New Haven painted sharrows leading partway to Union Station, but unfortunately they could not extend them past Frontage onto Union Avenue because the Connecticut DOT would not approve them on a state route. Anyone and everyone who cares about this issue should write to ConnDOT officials and urge them to follow New Haven's lead in approving sharrows for state routes.

In response to the above posts, I personally support expanding accommodations for mopeds and motorcycles at Union Station. But while mopeds and bicycles can potentially park at the same racks, motorcycles should be parked separately (and require no racks in any case). It is my understanding that a separate space has been designated for motorcycles near the Union Station parking garage.

Incidentally, does anyone know if bicycle accommodations are being included in the Design Scope of the new Blackrock Metro North station now under construction in Fairfield? The easiest way to get things installed is right up-front, when the architects are laying out the entire site. As we've seen in the case of Union Station, retrofitting is always more difficult.