A safe, free place to park one’s bicycle seems like a good idea. The city, in its efforts to promote cycling in general, asserts that the bike corrals will make our streets and sidewalks a bit safer, while freeing more space for pedestrians and events. They are also regarded as a better alternative to locking bikes to parking meters, sign posts, etc., since in many instances such activity can cause certain problems that can be avoided by use of the corrals.

As an adjunct to general discussions of late regarding unsafe and illegal bicycle usage in the city, some wonder why free parking is being offered to cyclists while no such generosity is being extended to motor vehicle operators. Permit and metered parking is a vexation to many in the city, and, although funded by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), it galls them to see these corrals put into place at public expense.

There is a call in some quarters to have cyclists registered, paying fees to help fund cycling law enforcement and related programs such as the bike corrals. How practical that proposal may be is yet to be proven.

Do we really wish to discourage bicycle use in our community, rather than promote it? Arguments can be made on either side of that issue. For the time being, we can say that a sensible method of parking bikes is now in place. For a certain number of cyclists, that is.

The question now is, will the corrals gain favor with the cyclists themselves? Some reports have indicated that trial offerings have not generated much interest among cyclists, with the corrals going largely unused. Old habits are hard to break sometimes, and a parking meter may be as convenient, or more so, than the new thing being offered.

Place it and they will come? Apparently, this is not always the case.