WHY TRANSIT AUTHORITES ARE CHOOSING BIKELID^®

New BikeLids To Replace Bike Lockers In Calendar Year 2011

DART has received a federal grant to replace aged and worn bike lockers with a new environmentally friendly state of the art BikeLids. Currently, cyclists can try out the new BikeLid located at Downtown Plano, Walnut Hill, and Akard stations.

The 142 new bike lids meet homeland security requirements, are homeless and vandal resistant, and do not overheat and melt plastic bike components.   Use of the new bike lids will be on a first come, first served bases. Cyclists will be required to provide their own padlock used to secure the bike lid. DART may add additional bike lids at a later date where demand exceeds supply. Please keep in-mind that overnight bicycle storage and/or locking of unused lids will not be allowed.

DART is in the process of removing damaged bike lockers now. All bicycles stored in damaged lockers that are removed will be logged into DART's lost-and-found. At a future date DART will notify cyclists that all bicycles stored in undamaged lockers will need to be removed in preparation for this project.  Because of these changes, DART IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS OR MAINTAINING WAITING LISTS FOR BIKE LOCKERS RENTALS. For further information about DART's existing bike lockers or new BikeLids, please contact John Quinn, Project Manager, at 214-749-2845.   www.DART.org/bikes

Bicycle Facility Upgrade at Riverside Downtown and North Main Corona Stations

In addition to bicycle racks, lockers provide an added level of security against possible theft and vandalism. However, conventional lockers require continuous maintenance and management. Lock mechanisms break; keys have to be distributed, tracked and hopefully returned; key deposits and refunds have to be tracked and accounted for; the potential for misuse, non-use and under use is significant as conventional lockers are assigned. All this adds complexity and cost to a conventional bike locker program, diminishing the benefit to the Commission as well as the overall passenger experience.

To address such complexity and costs, alternatives to conventional bike lockers were explored. The primary factor contributing to the complexity and cost of conventional lockers is the design. Essentially metal boxes, conventional lockers pose particular challenges to ensure proper and efficient use. In the past, lockers have been used for storage, remained assigned but unused, are an ideal habitat for any number of pests and pose a potential safety threat concealing devices intended to inflict public harm.   In consideration of these concerns, the Commission has purchased and installed six BikeLids at both the Riverside Downtown and North Main Corona stations.  The BikeLid is a competitively priced alternative product that significantly alleviates both the complexity and cost of a traditional bike locker. The design is essentially hybrid, integrating the simplicity of a bike rack with a clamshell hinged lockable cover.  BikeLids allow first come/first served single use while patrons utilize their own standard bicycle lock. This eliminates the need of a separate key and lock mechanism while still providing the security of covered storage, discouraging misuse and optimizing proper use. Furthermore, the unique design has been demonstrated to increase awareness and consideration of bicycle use. The BikeLid product is utilized at the Oceanside transit center. The units are durable, simple and attractive. BikeLid provides a 10-year warranty on material and workmanship -- Riverside County Transportation Commission