Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got til its gone.
Last week, I learned that Clement Solomon is cutting funding for PE172 Cycling Basics after this school year. Today, I went into Mountaineer Station and saw that the Bicycle Parking Room is now the Parking Maintenance Room. Half of the bike racks have been moved outside. No lockers. I can't tell what happened to the other half of the racks.
Any ideas how we can get Clement Solomon on board with us?
Frank Take paradise and put up a parking lot
I'd like to jump in here with my two cents--
To my knowledge, the Cycling Basics class was not intended to be a WVU supported course. Was it not started by a grant secured by the Bike Board? If the WVU monies being used to support the course are being diverted to other Transportation and Parking Initiatives, I think it's quite generous of the group to renew the funding for the 2013-2014 academic year to allow the Bike Board time to find other avenues.
Secondly, we don't know what's going on with the parking room. Perhaps T&P has usage statistics that can shed light on this change. Perhaps some members should meet with Dr. Solomon and/or invite him to a meeting to introduce himself before we make judgments about his commitment to alternative transportation.
Traci
Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com 8/2/2013 4:47 PM >>>
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got til its gone.
Last week, I learned that Clement Solomon is cutting funding for PE172 Cycling Basics after this school year. Today, I went into Mountaineer Station and saw that the Bicycle Parking Room is now the Parking Maintenance Room. Half of the bike racks have been moved outside. No lockers. I can't tell what happened to the other half of the racks.
Any ideas how we can get Clement Solomon on board with us?
Frank Take paradise and put up a parking lot
Your two cents buys a lot, especially since you worked with Dr. Solomon.
Would you go with me to meet with him? The purpose would be to gain an understanding of his goals, where bicycling might fit in and building a collaborative relationship between T&P and the BB? I assume the BB would be amenable to his being a member so we could also invite him to be a candidate for appointment.
To answer your question, the Confident City Cycling class was started a few years before the grant. It ran for a few years self-supporting. The instructor did not get paid. Then, we got a 2-year grant that was used as much for other education activities, e.g. billboards, TV spots, newspaper advertising, etc. as for offsetting some of the costs of the course.
Hugh saw bicycling as an integral part of the T&P mission. To get more WVU students, faculty and staff bicycling, he defrayed their costs in taking the course when it was offered by the City.
We all recognized that a course offered by the City had much less traction than if offered in the University. When the grant and our obligations to the City ended, Hugh initiated dialog with CPASS and proposed to fund the course. I never knew exactly where the money came from and there was never any mention of a termination date.
Before Hugh left, we were discussing a bike share system similar to that at the University of TN Knoxville, http://cycleushare.utk.edu/cycleushare/E-Bike_Sharing_at_UTK.html. It would be very cool if Dr. Solomon would pick up interest in that. We could make WVU a world-wide leader in bicycle transportation in challenging hilly environments as the PRT was for mass transit.
I was always surprised to see as many bikes in the Mountaineer Station Bicycle Parking Room as there were whenever I checked. I doubt many cyclists knew about it. There were no signs outside the facility indicating that there was bicycle parking inside and the signage at the entrances can seem to prohibit bicycles from entering. Hugh and I had discussed improving the signage but that never happened. BTW, Nick Hein designed the Bicycle Parking Room in collaboration with Hugh.
On Hugh's watch, WVU established exemplary bicycle parking (the inverted-U racks) throughout campus. I was hoping to use their accomplishments as a model and lever to get the City to do more. Before Hugh left, we were discussing providing more sheltered bicycle parking (using old smoke shacks). I hope we can continue that. BTW, Jonathan Rosenbaum designed the campus inverted-U racks in collaboration with Hugh.
Traci, thanks for helping me look for the positive in this!
Frank
On Aug 2, 2013, at 5:11 PM, Traci Knabenshue wrote:
I'd like to jump in here with my two cents--
To my knowledge, the Cycling Basics class was not intended to be a WVU supported course. Was it not started by a grant secured by the Bike Board? If the WVU monies being used to support the course are being diverted to other Transportation and Parking Initiatives, I think it's quite generous of the group to renew the funding for the 2013-2014 academic year to allow the Bike Board time to find other avenues.
Secondly, we don't know what's going on with the parking room. Perhaps T&P has usage statistics that can shed light on this change. Perhaps some members should meet with Dr. Solomon and/or invite him to a meeting to introduce himself before we make judgments about his commitment to alternative transportation.
Traci
Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com 8/2/2013 4:47 PM >>>
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got til its gone.
Last week, I learned that Clement Solomon is cutting funding for PE172 Cycling Basics after this school year. Today, I went into Mountaineer Station and saw that the Bicycle Parking Room is now the Parking Maintenance Room. Half of the bike racks have been moved outside. No lockers. I can't tell what happened to the other half of the racks.
Any ideas how we can get Clement Solomon on board with us?
Frank Take paradise and put up a parking lot
BB Members, I walked through Mountaineer Station today and glanced at the former Bicycle Parking Room. I witnessed what Frank mentioned previous email, but it now looks like lockers are available on an adjacent wall near the bike racks in the actual parking garage. From what I can remember on the number of lockers in the Bicycle Parking Room, it seems like roughly half of the lockers are there, but perhaps all are in the new space. I asked one of the parking staff within the building if they knew the reason for the change. They suggested that some inappropriate uses were occurring in the room, but didn't appear to want to tell me what happened. However, she recommended that we talk to Kim Hartsell, Planning Manager, of Facilities Planning and Scheduling (304-293-6445, kim.hartsell@mail.wvu.edu) If anyone knows if this is incorrect, let us know. I have a feeling our questions should be more directed toward Mr. Solomon, as you've stated above.
Also, she said that anyone wishing to use the lockers must fill out a form to get a lock that you can use to secure your belongings. There is no fee for this, but helps them know who is using the locker.
Let me know if you need any further action on this from me. Otherwise, I'll just let you proceed with what you were planning. Just wanted to share and felt compelled to ask since I was walking through Mountaineer Station.
I also noticed that the http://transportation.wvu.edu/ website states that ' and bicycle lockers and showers for those that would like to ride their bike to campus.' I feel it is important to add in bike racks, so folks know that they can secure their bikes. And on the http://transportation.wvu.edu/parking-management site we could suggest some improvements under the Bike Racks section to include links to the Evansdale and Campus maps that show bike racks that are located here http://wecan.wvu.edu/sustainability/transportation/bikingwvu/commuting_on_ca... And it sure would be nice if the Walking or Biking section could reference our BikeMorgantown.com map that shows other commuter routes other than just the 'Two trails'. Could this be mentioned in the meeting you plan with Clement Solomon?
Just my 1 cent that I found today at Mtr. Station, ~Derek
On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com wrote:
Your two cents buys a lot, especially since you worked with Dr. Solomon.
Would you go with me to meet with him? The purpose would be to gain an understanding of his goals, where bicycling might fit in and building a collaborative relationship between T&P and the BB? I assume the BB would be amenable to his being a member so we could also invite him to be a candidate for appointment.
To answer your question, the Confident City Cycling class was started a few years before the grant. It ran for a few years self-supporting. The instructor did not get paid. Then, we got a 2-year grant that was used as much for other education activities, e.g. billboards, TV spots, newspaper advertising, etc. as for offsetting some of the costs of the course.
Hugh saw bicycling as an integral part of the T&P mission. To get more WVU students, faculty and staff bicycling, he defrayed their costs in taking the course when it was offered by the City.
We all recognized that a course offered by the City had much less traction than if offered in the University. When the grant and our obligations to the City ended, Hugh initiated dialog with CPASS and proposed to fund the course. I never knew exactly where the money came from and there was never any mention of a termination date.
Before Hugh left, we were discussing a bike share system similar to that at the University of TN Knoxville, http://cycleushare.utk.edu/cycleushare/E-Bike_Sharing_at_UTK.html. It would be very cool if Dr. Solomon would pick up interest in that. We could make WVU a world-wide leader in bicycle transportation in challenging hilly environments as the PRT was for mass transit.
I was always surprised to see as many bikes in the Mountaineer Station Bicycle Parking Room as there were whenever I checked. I doubt many cyclists knew about it. There were no signs outside the facility indicating that there was bicycle parking inside and the signage at the entrances can seem to prohibit bicycles from entering. Hugh and I had discussed improving the signage but that never happened. BTW, Nick Hein designed the Bicycle Parking Room in collaboration with Hugh.
On Hugh's watch, WVU established exemplary bicycle parking (the inverted-U racks) throughout campus. I was hoping to use their accomplishments as a model and lever to get the City to do more. Before Hugh left, we were discussing providing more sheltered bicycle parking (using old smoke shacks). I hope we can continue that. BTW, Jonathan Rosenbaum designed the campus inverted-U racks in collaboration with Hugh.
Traci, thanks for helping me look for the positive in this!
Frank
On Aug 2, 2013, at 5:11 PM, Traci Knabenshue wrote:
I'd like to jump in here with my two cents--
To my knowledge, the Cycling Basics class was not intended to be a WVU supported course. Was it not started by a grant secured by the Bike Board? If the WVU monies being used to support the course are being diverted to other Transportation and Parking Initiatives, I think it's quite generous of the group to renew the funding for the 2013-2014 academic year to allow the Bike Board time to find other avenues.
Secondly, we don't know what's going on with the parking room. Perhaps T&P has usage statistics that can shed light on this change. Perhaps some members should meet with Dr. Solomon and/or invite him to a meeting to introduce himself before we make judgments about his commitment to alternative transportation.
Traci
Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@gmail.com 8/2/2013 4:47 PM >>>
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got til its gone.
Last week, I learned that Clement Solomon is cutting funding for PE172 Cycling Basics after this school year. Today, I went into Mountaineer Station and saw that the Bicycle Parking Room is now the Parking Maintenance Room. Half of the bike racks have been moved outside. No lockers. I can't tell what happened to the other half of the racks.
Any ideas how we can get Clement Solomon on board with us?
Frank *Take paradise and put up a parking lot*
Bikeboard mailing list Bikeboard@bikemorgantown.com http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard
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Derek Springston -
Frank Gmeindl -
Traci Knabenshue