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I live in Beaverton, just west of Portland. We have a "park & ride" garage at a MAX station (think light rail commuting train), where they have bike parking called Bike Link. It's a covered, enclosed area where you park/lock your bike. You buy a card and put money on it, use the card to access the locked areas or lockers. Parking is about .03 cents per hour.
Anyone ever use this?
I haven't used BikeLink, but I've been considering it lately, since there's a station near a movie theatre I frequent, and I think it would be nice to have a more secure place to lock my bike for upwards of three hours, often at night, than on the street.
I spent some time last weekend talking to people who used the station I would use (I just skulked outside and talked to people as they went in). They all found it convenient and most of them felt it was safe enough to leave accessories on their bikes, unlocked, which is a major plus. Of course, no place is that secure, but I could see leaving lights on or something like that.
I bought my card today, registered it online, then since I was in the area in my car, stopped by to "activate" it at the site. I put in my card and it prompted me through "User Agreement" statements (you press the button to agree), then at the end a human voice came over the speaker and said, "Is this Sandra?". I had to stand a bit closer to the camera and hold my photo ID next to my face and "just relax" and he-the guy on the phone line who could see my on the camera- took my photo with my driver's license next to my face. He said they mail out "ID tags" twice per week and that whenever I use the facility the ID tag has to be visible somewhere on my bike so when they audit the facility they'll know that the bikes that are there truly belong. In the meantime, they have stick on tags and a pen to write your card ID on it and stick it to your bike. He said that the sticker they mail you doesn't have to "stick" onto your bike. For example you could put it in to a tag holder and attach it to your bike. So I used the card to see how the door unlocks, I went in and looked at the work station, how the upper racks worked, then went out. It's important to "clock out" when you leave so as to stop the timer.
I bought my card for $20 and the activation cost $5, so I now have a balance of $15 on the card. I noticed that folks had their helmets locked with cable locks to their bikes. I didn't notice any "heavy duty" locks on any of the bikes.
We have only one in the area, along the MAX (light rail) line, however they're building two other locations at the other end and a more central location along the line. Those will be finished mid-June.
They just opened a bike depot in Downtown St. Louis. I'm not usually down that way, but I'm such a nerd--I want to go visit:D
@TrekTheKaty, is that similar to a bike link facility? Sounds like it.