post and ring

Post and ring bike parking is lacking in many heavily cycled parts of Toronto. The City of Toronto was once in the forefront of supplying short-term parking for cyclists and this may help explain why so many people bike despite the poor cycling infrastructure otherwise.

We've got to hold onto the parking we've got and push for more. Currently the City is slow to re-install the parking removed when sidewalks are reconstructed (or for other construction). And they seem slow to put in enough parking otherwise.

Here's a neat website, SeeClickFix, that allows people to post issues with their city and to get crowd-support. If people mark down where they think bike parking is critical, use the keywords "bike parking" or "post and ring", or vote on an existing issue then we can gather all this information to send to councillors and staff.

It's clear that there's more demand for parking than is being met. If the city doesn't want cyclists to lock to gas meters, trees or fences then we want them to take bike parking seriously.

Try it out! And while you're at it also submit your suggestion directly to the City through their online suggestion form. It would be good if they also get flooded with requests.

Seeing some of the commentary on my first post, I decided that it would be helpful to show you just how the street in question is laid out.

I've taken the liberty to mark the image up with a few points of interest.

[Editors: We'd like to welcome Kris as a guest blogger who in his first segment is going to document his pursuit of bike parking. Kris is a long term organizer of Critical Ass and a ward captain in the bike union.]

Jack Lackey is reporting in today's Fixer column in the Toronto Star that many of Toronto's famous "Post and Ring" style bike racks are easily removed.