Would you like to be able to ride your motorcycle to work and find convenient, free parking by the curb? With a little luck we will have that here in Denver this summer. And you can probably make it happen in your town, too. Here’s what you can do.
Denver is fortunate in that we have a mayor who “gets it” and is willing to consider new ideas. He created an agency called Greenprint Denver that is charged with helping Denverites reduce pollution, congestion, and burning of motor fuel.
But you don’t need that degree of commitment; all you really need is a Public Works Department that is open to trying something new. In brief, here’s what needs to happen.
- Identify unused or under-used spaces on city blocks
- Have the traffic engineers and parking specialists select the ones they feel would be best suited to motorcycle parking
- Get the program approved
- Have crews stripe, sign, and otherwise prepare the spaces to be designated
Presto, you’re in business.
I’ll elaborate further. The spaces you’re looking for are called “end-caps” and they are generally spaces at the ends of blocks that are not long enough for cars. So they sit there empty but they could easily accommodate one or more motorcycles or scooters.
Because they’re sitting there empty, converting the end-caps to motorcycle parking would not cut city revenue as converting a metered space would do. So if your city wants to encourage motorcycle commuting, the only costs would be the time spent devising the program and then the striping and signing.
What more can you ask for? It’s green and it’s cheap. And it’s a way for your city to show that it has the concerns of its citizenry at heart. Your city councilperson might be interested in having themselves portrayed in that manner. Maybe if you sent them an email.
But really, I would start with the Public Works Department. They may already be thinking along these lines and your inquiry may be a helpful boost to get the idea in motion. I got involved in this because a reader of my Examiner.com site wrote urging me to lobby for dedicated parking. I started writing about it and several people stepped up to contribute to the effort and then I discovered that the city was already looking into it. So I don’t claim any influence in this at all, I just lucked into a great news story that no one else was covering.
What I have seen as I have delved into this story, however, is that it’s something that could easily be replicated just about anywhere. I really do think all you need to do is start talking to the right people and you can probably make it happen.
If you do, I’d love to hear from you about your efforts and problems and successes and whatever else. Get on it!
Biker Quote for Today
He who rides and keeps the beaten track studies the fences chiefly. — Henry David Thoreau
Those of us in the OFMC take pride in riding our bikes to whatever distant state we choose for our summer trips, but let’s face it, we live in the heart of great riding. But you notice we never ride the Smoky Mountains or New England, not to mention Europe or Australia or so many other places. If we ever decided to do that we might be looking for a tour.
Before I get into this discussion I want to make it clear here what my purpose is. If your city does actively promote motorcycle commuting by mandating dedicated parking I want to hear from you. I’m looking for examples we can use to promote the same thing here.
Charley is my wife’s son. Judy and I have been married for 13 years. Charley was 16 when we got married. Thanks to him and his sisters, the first 7 years of our marriage were utter hell. Are you starting to get the picture?