unprotoize ([info]unprotoize) wrote,
@ 2005-10-19 12:31:00
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Parking Ticket
Monday I came out of the building I work in at UMBC to unlock my bike and ride home. Attached to the seat with a rubber band was a small pink notice, stating:

Please note UMBC Rules and Regulations regarding bicycles on campus:
Bicycles must be parked in bicycle pods or at bicycle racks. Bicyles may not be chained to trees, buildings, poles, etc. Noncompliance may result in confiscation of the bike. If you have any questions, please contact Parking Services at 410-455-2551.

What's a "bike pod", you ask? A bike pod is a sort of personal covered bike rack. You lift the lid of the pod, roll your bike in there, then pull the lid down and put a padlock through the locking hole. Not such a terrible idea, in theory.

The problems with bike pods:
  • They don't work with my kryptonite U-Lock
  • They are always full of abandoned bikes - not maintained by anyone
  • They replaced racks that would hold 10-15 bikes each to put in two of these things
  • They are eyesores - the University put them in to sell advertising space on them, but the ad company has abandoned that part of their business. Every pod has a giant poster on it saying "THIS SPACE FOR SALE", which is just terribly lame


In truth there are a few bona-fide bike racks left on campus, near the residence halls and the commons. Pfft. I don't pedal my ass all the way in every day to park halfway across campus and then walk it. If I want to do that I'll just drive.

And about this "confiscation" angle. For one thing I have a pretty good lock; it'd take some time to saw through it. And I don't mean to be crude, but may as well just punch my cat as fuck with my bike. For anyone attempting such a thing the fury will be brought down upon them with a quickness.

For the time being, I'm locking to a different railing on the other side of the building, not a hand rail for stairs but a guard rail for a balcony-type area.

Car parking and transit on the UMBC campus is always going to be a problem - it's a commuter school. And with rising gas prices I'm seeing more bikes than ever around here. These lame little notes aren't going to help anything.

What I'd like to see UMBC do to address this problem:
  • Give management of bike pods to UMBC Police and let SGA or the student events committee use the ad space
  • Put in some real bike racks around the campus


Now if only I could tell someone who'd listen, care, and be able to do something about it...

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[info]jurph
2005-10-19 12:19 pm UTC (link)
Here's an idea: why not visit the Madrax bicycle parking system website, go in with about 10 friends on a bike rack, and have it delivered to your house? Then sneak over in the middle of the night, pour a foundation, and sink it into a lawn somewhere near your building. If you wear coveralls and carry a good ID and some faked-up (dirty) forms on a clipboard, nobody will suspect you're not "off-shift maintenance".

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transportation problems, of a different sort
(Anonymous)
2005-10-19 07:01 pm UTC (link)
Have a bunch of friends lock thier bikes into a grouping in a parking space. If you put a chain in a parking space and then have people lock their bikes to the common chain, You will always have a big mess of bikes occupying a space in the parking lot. The bad part is that you would only have to cut one chain to 'confiscate' all of the bikes.

But you could make it more about the cause and use the occupied parking lot space as a publicity stunt to draw attention to the need for bike racks on campus. You could have the 'bikers' watch over the bike circle between classes. If the campus police come to break up the bike ring, call everyone who has their bike locked there. Of course, you can do that because everyone has cell phones and they shared the number when they locked thier bike into the cause.

I would wait until right about the time the campus police start noticing the bikes. Then write to the local newspapers. Just before the campus police are ready to take the bikes, call the tv news stations to come out and witness the ordeal. If you get on the 5:00 news, your good. How pathetic would it look to the public to have campus police arresting students because they didn't have a place to lock their bikes.

It'd be nice if the SGA had some real pull. In my old school, the SGA meetings were more of a place to complaign and congratulate each other. If your SGA is strong, they may be able to make a difference. Hope your SGA was better than ours was.

You could always post certain phone numbers online and have people from all over call in to complaign. There are a lot of bikers out there, not just the ones on your campus. I know of at least one other person who is already helping.

laconis

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[info]liritsvoice
2005-10-20 08:52 am UTC (link)
i'm surprized they (umbc) havent found a way to profit from the influx of bikers... make people pay fines for not parking their bikes in the right place. bah humbug. and theyve earned whats coming to them if they mess with your bike!!

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(Anonymous)
2005-10-28 04:03 am UTC (link)
I wonder, What is the difference between "Noncompliance may result in confiscation of the bike." and the organized theft of your bike. Is it theirs to confiscate?

To request more bike racks or to find out the official procedure to request more bike racks (If they are like most places they love their procedures) did you "please contact Parking Services at 410-455-2551." and have the "help you"?

I have heard that attaching a bike to the rail going in or out of a building can make it difficult for handicap people to get in and out, so that may be their concern and in the typical bureaucratic manor they are over reacting.


-Jason B.

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