pc486

In this incident there was a passenger in the car. They were not injured.

The rolling taxis problem is still a thing though. I know there's lots for these self-driving cars to hang out in, but even that means a return trip back to base is without passengers.

Locking up is a great way to get some piece of mind. Another way is insurance! It's not too expensive compared to an expensive bike. You can also setup your own "insurance" by opening a savings account/index funds/rotating CoDs with some money and deposit a monthly value of your choice (gas money saved per month, what private insurance would be, or as a general savings goal).

IMHO, scooters are so inexpensive that it's not a huge deal to buy a new one when it's stolen. This is true for ebikes too, though it can be a little more painful. Try comparing such a loss to how much you're paying for transportation and you'll find that a bike isn't the biggest slice of that pie. Use that knowledge to relish the thought with your coffee after not paying for gas or a parking meter.

That's a fair position to take, and thank you for debating. Have an upvote!

I don't think park-and-ride should be made artificially cheap or free because that causes demand to drive to the town edges. Regional transit is needed and is already competing with subsidized highways. We don't need more subsidies that induce even more regional car demand!

Besides, even with charging for the lost costs, park-and-ride is going to be cheaper over inner-city parking. Let me clarify my point of the cost of a garage: the cost of building a garage includes materials, maintenance, enforcement, and land value. City edge land is cheap to the point that park-and-ride probably won't be built as a garage but as a lot. Engineered buildings are expensive and usually only make sense when the land value is very high. I suspect it's only a million or two to build a paved, ~200 spot park-and-ride, which would place daily spot pricing on the order of $1.50 to $2.50 a day. That's pretty cheap compared to privately owned garaged parking in major cities (> $25 a day).

My pricing beef orbits around how often city garages are heavily subsidized. I'll make a real-life example from a nearby city of 64,000 people. They built a garage adjacent to their downtown for $12 million. Amortizing that over 15 years and the number of spaces puts the minimum revenue per spot at $8.98 per day. What is the city's going rate for parking? $40 per month for a permit and $1.25 an hour with 9 hours of enforcement. Only the hourly rate at 100% occupancy, which this lot is not generating, meets just the construction costs, let alone figuring out discount rate and property taxes.

And speaking of taxes, I expect publicly built parking lots and garages to also pay for their taxable rate, even if it's just an accounting trick by the city to price their lots. Running local property taxes as a land value tax would go a long way towards properly pricing the value of public garages. LVT would also discourage parking in the city center, where land is expensive, in favor of parking on the city edge, where land is cheap. Just another trick which drives down park-and-ride pricing and discourages city-center parking.

There are good parking garages and bad parking garages. What makes a good parking garage? I'd say good garages must be:

• Located away from attractions and venues. The garage should not operate as a way to funnel cars into a popular area but rather as a way to store cars for those unfortunate enough to be unable to arrive by alternative means.
• Located close to public transit. The garage should operate as a gateway into a local community, hence should have access to bike paths, trains and trams, buses, etc to carry their passengers into a community.
• Be priced to cover the garage cost. Garages are expensive and the hourly/daily fees with average occupancy should pay for the garage in 10 to 15 years.
• A tool to remove on-street parking and minimum parking requirements.

Bad garages are ones that break the good rules. They are:

• Are free or too cheap to pay off their construction cost and land value in a reasonable time period.
• Located inside downtown areas.
• A method to increase the capacity of car storage in downtowns.

It's also possible for a good garage to become a bad one. Say a small town installs a parking lot on the edge of town, but then the town grows. That lot should be removed due to the increased land value it occupies. The new medium sized town can consider adding a parking lot or garage again, but certainly not in their popular, profitable, and active downtown.

Yeah, it's a hit or miss kind of thing. Some folk have zero issues with them. Also the nice thing with derailleurs is their cheap access to the huge gear range and count of cassettes.

Still, one of NJB's talking points in his love letter to the omafiets is the lack of a derailleur. I'm taking that as a hard requirement of finding a US equivalent bike.

I ran across the Elecra but the issue I have is they run derailleurs. Derailleurs are just not as reliable as a fixed or internally geared bike. They're easily bent, causing shifting headaches, and their exposure makes them susceptible to dirt and ice.

All my bikes have them, hence my often used and favorite tool is a derailleur hanger alignment tool.

Let us window gaze then!

PUBLIC offers some nice internally geared city bikes and beach cruisers. Their 8i series is their top end. It's steel, has a 8-speed internal geared hub, fenders included, and with handles set for upright riding. Their optional rack looks like it pairs well with the frame. 8i series drive train gearing is something on the order of 28 to 86 gear inches. The cheaper 7i series is approximately 33 to 82 gear inches. Both are quite reasonable for city gearing with the 8i being easier for going up hills and an extra gear for better cadence matching.

Trek makes a beautiful city bike: the District 4 Equipped and has a step through version. Dynamo hub for always on lighting and the rack is included. Capable gearing at approximately 30 to 92 gear inches. IMHO, the best part is a Gates CDX carbon belt drive. Belt drives are even lower maintenance than a traditional bike chain. Never lube a chain again, battle with rust or road gunk, or become sad mid-ride with sand, mud, or ice fouling.

Speaking of belt drives, Priority specializes in them and has a big selection of commuting and recreational bikes. They even have a folding bike, which can be nice if you're stuck needing to drive or take a bus for one leg of a trip.

Handsome makes frames and will build a bike to your spec. For example, you can spec their mixte bike ("She Devil") with a Shimano Alfine 8-speed. Sellers like these are a great option, but I recommend finding a LBS willing to take a shipment and do final assembly work on it. Shipping completed bikes is expensive and you'll still need tune-ups now and then.

I'm sure there's more out there, but that's enough shopping for me today. Who else has thoughts? Or perhaps other neat finds?

The closest production bike available in the US similar to omafiets would be the beach cruiser. They're available as a single-speed with/without coaster brakes, or internally geared, have wide handle bars, step-through or stylish but still easy mounting frame, and often have color-matched basket and rack options.

Careful with what you wish for. Omafiets and cruisers work where there aren't significant hills. Heavy single speeds really suck when you're faces with even a moderate 4% grade. Practical urban bikes in the US really need some gearing.

Start smaller and cheaper! A rack and inexpensive/DIY paniers will absolutely hold two bags of groceries. Try riding an occasional forgot-the-milk / fresh veggies / beer run. It's liberating.

I bought an inexpensive cargo bike, and enjoy it greatly, but I've gotten a fair amount of mileage out of my older bike after putting on a simple rack.

Ah, that's totally fair. I thought you had a tight storage situation. Roll on. :)

Have you considered a folding bike, like a Brompton? They tend to be easier to carry up stairs or in an elevator. And they're space efficient to store.

Another deeply disturbing tale. RIP Ben.