These post-and-rings are well distributed. I often park my bike outside the Toronto Reference Library, near Yonge and Bloor. Especially in the warmer months, there is a large demand around the library for places to lock bikes. The city has obliged by installing many post-and-rings at this location. While it is common to have to share a post-and-ring with another cyclist, I don’t think I have ever found all the spaces near the library taken.
In areas with fewer cyclists needing to lock their bikes, I also find there are usually enough post-and-rings about. The city doesn’t ignore areas that have smaller demand. For example, I often park my bike on Queen Street East at Lee Avenue, in the Beaches. I always seem to find a free post-and-ring there. Just from memory, I would say there are perhaps nine post-and-rings at that intersection. One was recently removed – not sure why – but the intersection is still adequately supplied.
For the most part people seem to use post-and-rings properly, but occasionally I find a dog leashed to one. I am leery of locking my bike to a post-and-ring with a dog attached. Most dogs are friendly, but you never know… And I don’t want to possibly alarm a dog by locking my bike right in its face. I usually give post-and-rings with dogs a pass.
Another example of misuse is when someone locks up a bike, often for long stretches, with a for sale sign hung over it. I guess this person has the same right to use a post-and-ring as anyone else, but I think this is clearly going against the spirit of how they are supposed to be used. I am a bit annoyed when I see bikes taking up a spot in this way.
As for places on private property to lock up bikes, it can be a crapshoot. And usually the cyclist comes out on the losing end… At my local Loblaws, at Victoria Park and Gerrard, the bike racks are barely an afterthought. Perhaps Loblaws isn’t concerned with providing decent racks because they think that people mostly come with cars to do a large shopping. One can’t very well carry home a week’s worth of groceries on a bike, after all. But I think Loblaws might be being short sighted. I often find myself going there to get things that can easily fit into my panniers.
I do occasionally see other bikes locked up outside this Loblaws. But when I do see them, they are locked to signposts in front of the store and not at the dedicated racks that Loblaws provides. Why? Because the racks are around to the side of the supermarket; people would rather leave their bikes locked in areas with lots of people around. The racks at the side seem isolated--a good location for bike thievery.
Continuing with the bikes racks at Loblaws; they are of the low-to-the-ground type. You know. The ones that you can only slide your front tire into. This is the worst type of bike rack. It is useless with U-locks because only the easily removed front tire can be locked. And when I use my cable lock, I have to extend it to its maximum reach to get both tires and the frame locked. This is almost impossible in winter, when the cold causes the cable to become less flexible. As well, the bike can easily tip over, which can potentially bend a tire rim.
Businesses that don’t provide proper bike racks seem to be in the majority in Toronto, but I have found exceptions. The Manulife Centre has a large number of good-quality, waist-high racks outside it, as does, unsurprisingly, Mountain Equipment Co-op. It is important that a bike rack be waist high because a bike can be properly locked to it by using a U-lock to secure the rear tire and frame. (I also run a cable through my front tire and frame – a wise precaution.)
Overall, I give the city a good grade for its post-and-ring program. City businesses, though? Not enough of them take bike parking seriously. As the number of cyclists grows in Toronto, businesses with subpar bike racks risk losing some of their patrons to places with proper racks.
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