Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A bike kennel in Fredericton

My dad sent me this picture a couple of days ago: secure bike parking in my home town, Fredericton, NB.


I don't know for sure how it works (do you need a key to the 'kennel', or is there staff, or what?) but it struck me that I don't see these in Ottawa, which is arguably a more bike-friendly town (and probably has a higher rate of bike theft too). Not that Fredericton is huge, or hostile to bikes, but I don't remember ever seeing a bike lane there, and it is built on a great huge hill, which was definitely a deterrent to me as a kid, when I entertained the notion of bringing my bike in to town to get around on. But, lookee here, public bike parking. Which I would love to have access to in Ottawa (when I got a job recently on Elgin Street, about the third thing I asked my new boss was if it would be okay for me to bring my bike into the store and stash it in the staffroom. I've had too many headlights stolen to feel safe leaving him outside at night...)

4 comments:

  1. How would you feel if I told you there was talk of a $5/day guarded parking lot on Elgin downtown?

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  2. There is one of those at the University of Ottawa (Between the Lamoureux building and the Montpetit building), but I'm not aware of any public ones.

    The City had some bike lockers at far-flung transit atations a few years back, but they saw little use (partly due to poor implementation).

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  3. I'm really lucky- the building where I work as an AMAZING bike locker - with lockers, filtered water and lots of space. It is secured and you have to get your name added to the list in order to be able to use your passcard to get in. (Love Fredericton - spent 6 years there - what a terrific city)

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  4. Hi Kate,

    I'm happy to tell you that Fredericton now has a few bike lanes.

    Progress is happening.

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