It was great being home for the holidays. Of course, I brought along my crappy Sony Cybershot camera and tried to take as many photos as possible during my time there. I was particularly on the lookout for anything related to cycling, as this is the first trip we’ve taken back home where we had enough time to do so.
One thing that changed since we moved out of Chicago was the whole metered parking situation, so it was new for me to see this:
“Meter remains as a courtesy to cyclists”
For those who don’t know, Chicago privatized metered parking, and will soon be (or already is) the city with THE highest meter parking rates. Looks like it’s another reason to support cycling as a means for commuting!
I live in the Chicago area — and the parking meters are just one of the many reasons I try to avoid going to Chicago!
Yup! There can be many pains involved traveling to Chicago, but I love it here and miss it badly. I’m not entirely against expensive parking, either, as it can be a way to encourage commuting by bike! And, the more people who commute by bike, the better infrastructure there will be (at least, one can hope…!)
Is that a meter for a bike? How does that work?
Nope! Luckily, bike parking is still pretty much free (unless you want to park in a garage or something like that). This is an old meter for car parking. Now, there are booths placed at various locations on the street and you get a printed out receipt to put in your car. They left the old meters for cyclists to lock up their bike. However, I would NOT actually recommend using it, as it can actually still be stolen (by lifting the bike up over the meter, or by unbolting the bottom).
Oh ok, I get it now. No, I wouldn’t lock my bike to that either. Not my good bike anyway