Speak Out Against Headless Meters to Oakland Council

[g2:523 size=300 class=right]The $4.8 million contract for the installation and financing of the pay and display parking kiosks was approved at the June 5 Oakland City Council Agenda but your comments can still help! Please see the original agenda consent calendar item 10.14-CC: Multi-Space Pay And Display Parking Meters - Leases. Please contact your Councilmember to share your concern that Oakland not reduce bicycle parking options and urge adoption of solutions (below).

DISCUSSION
Please review the article published in the March 2007 issue of rideOn and note that the EBBC does not oppose kiosk parking. We call for coordination with the CityRack bicycle parking program. Roughly 500 city block faces worth of meters are coming out and bike racks (average 2/block face design standard) will cost $200,000! Bike racks cost $200 installed. This is a great chance for a relatively easy solution to what threatens to become a bicycle parking nightmare in many of the city's most active districts.

Current Status: The Oakland Pedestrian/Bicycle program staff has negotiated with the Finance and Management staff to have three car park information sign poles on each block installed so that they will offer serviceable bicycle parking. Note that sign poles offer substandard parking security for bike commuters.

Further, the Oakland Pedestrian/Bicycle Program staff has secured a grant to install 250 inverted U bicycle racks throughout the city (over 20% of the grant will pay for staffing, not racks!). They will commit an intern to the issue over the next few months, but it is likely that the parking meters will be removed before staff can get the bike rack contract through the bidding process.

Recommended Solutions

• Retain meter posts and identify a low-cost way to retrofit the post for bicycle parking, similar to solutions adopted in Berkeley and Seattle.
• Kiosk parking information poles should include a sticker identifying them as appropriate for bicycle parking. Poles must be installed if any meters are removed, and placed according to city standards.
• Eliminate the fee to install a rack on private property. No one pays this fee, and it inhibits the placement of racks.
• Commit $150,000 from either the increased parking revenue or the city budget to cover the funding gap identified above. This represents only 3% of the $4.8 million lease!