Commuters--office building parking
Fellow bike commuters, I have a question: Does your office building have a bike room? If so, is there a fee to park your bike and how much? My building is about to impose a fee and I'm curious how it compares. Thanks.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Serge Lubomudrov on -
I'm not sure, Layne. Most likely, they only allow those who work in the 311 S. Wacker to leave their bikes in the bike room (it gets rather crouded when weather is nice). There's, though, a bunch of bike racks just outside, at Franklin & Van Buren: during office hours, at least, it should be pretty safe.
Layne said:Serge,
Do they allow people from nearby buildings to park at the bike rack at your work? My company is moving offices to 300 S Wacker, and am looking for a place to park my bike. The rack in front of 300 S Wacker is not supervised at all.
Serge Lubomudrov said:311 S Wacker, where I work, has bike racks installed next to the cargo elevator and the mail room (I've posted pictures before). The charge is $20 (one-time fee). There's also a fitness club in the building, which offers showers for $25 a month.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin on -
You must be the bike with the rack and lots of stickers. I'm the white/silver Trek hybrid with full fenders and my colleague is the motobecane fixed, we're usually the only 3 that make it in all year.
Layne, I'm fairly certain you need to be a tenant to park at 311. The $20 one-time fee is pretty much to get a little laminated sticker to put on your bike. They seem to be very quick to post a nastygram on your bike if they don't see it, I had one the very day I rode a new bike in.
Serge Lubomudrov said:311 S Wacker, where I work, has bike racks installed next to the cargo elevator and the mail room (I've posted pictures before). The charge is $20 (one-time fee). There's also a fitness club in the building, which offers showers for $25 a month.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on -
General questions for those with bike parking in their building.
How do you enter or exit the bike parking area?
the biggest barrier we are currently having with the building I work in is that they do not want any bikes goign through the lobby (access to freight elevator), but they also do not want us entering through the parking garage ("too dangerous" and "for our own good" excuses, not do they want us to enter through the delivery garage. Which means that while there are areas that could be converted to bike parking, the building has shot down any of our entry to these areas.
I'm curious how other building that have parking deal with the "letting bikes inside" issue.
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Permalink Reply by Serge Lubomudrov on
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You're right, that Schwinn with fenders, rack and lots of stickers is mine :)
Kevin said:You must be the bike with the rack and lots of stickers. I'm the white/silver Trek hybrid with full fenders and my colleague is the motobecane fixed, we're usually the only 3 that make it in all year.
Layne, I'm fairly certain you need to be a tenant to park at 311. The $20 one-time fee is pretty much to get a little laminated sticker to put on your bike. They seem to be very quick to post a nastygram on your bike if they don't see it, I had one the very day I rode a new bike in.
Serge Lubomudrov said:311 S Wacker, where I work, has bike racks installed next to the cargo elevator and the mail room (I've posted pictures before). The charge is $20 (one-time fee). There's also a fitness club in the building, which offers showers for $25 a month.
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Permalink Reply by Duppie 13.5185km on -
That is a very nice solution you got in your building with the bike parking, gym and all.
Serge Lubomudrov said:
You're right, that Schwinn with fenders, rack and lots of stickers is mine :)
Kevin said:You must be the bike with the rack and lots of stickers. I'm the white/silver Trek hybrid with full fenders and my colleague is the motobecane fixed, we're usually the only 3 that make it in all year.
Layne, I'm fairly certain you need to be a tenant to park at 311. The $20 one-time fee is pretty much to get a little laminated sticker to put on your bike. They seem to be very quick to post a nastygram on your bike if they don't see it, I had one the very day I rode a new bike in.
Serge Lubomudrov said:311 S Wacker, where I work, has bike racks installed next to the cargo elevator and the mail room (I've posted pictures before). The charge is $20 (one-time fee). There's also a fitness club in the building, which offers showers for $25 a month.
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Permalink Reply by Jamais716 on -
Sears Tower has us enter through the messenger center which goes into the garage where the bike racks are. The rules say we have to walk the bike in the garage to cover the safety excuses.
For anybody who works in the Tower, I just dropped off my bike parking agreement and there are 7 spots left! If you're planning to park in the building, signup this week or you'll be on the waitlist.
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Permalink Reply by lauren sailor on -
haha, i love the commuter connection that Serge and Kevin had! i used to recognize all the winter commuting bikes when i worked at 10 S. Riverside, where there are only unattended racks outside.
over at 310/300 W. Adams, we have a bike room that is accessed from the alley, through a little door near the loading dock. it is free for workers in the building (not sure if others are permitted, but you could totes sneak in) and "at your own risk--lock up," as signs say. to enter, you press a button on what may be an intercom (though i've never, um, spoken with it), and someone (presumably a front desk attendant) buzzes you into the building. there is a camera over the building door, allowing security to see that you're holding a bike and eager to start your workday; smiling and waving to them is optional. i've never had to wait outside for more than 15 seconds after ringing the bell.
right now there's some construction going on, so the building's bike "room" moved to the hallway. this is fine for winter, when there are a half-dozen or so bikes spaced among the three large bike racks that were pulled into the hallway. i assume we'll be back in the bike room before the weather heats up and the bicycles start packing in.
Liz, i'm sure the parking garage or delivery center would be fine, though i can definitely see your building nixing bikes in the lobby. since the delivery area is probably easy enough for riders to access, entering and parking near that makes a lot of sense. as for the garage, if the building management is worried about your safety, perhaps they can post a "Watch for Bicycles" sign near the entrance (maybe near the "10mph" sign that's probably there, hah! you ride in Chicago traffic: are they really worried about you in a <i>parking garage</i>?!).
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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on -
Secure schmecure.
My building has indoor bike parking but someone that works in the building or accesses it regularly is letting the air out of my tires, poking a needle through the sidewall!
3 flats in Feb/Mar alone!
Not too mention taking the light of my back pack and telling me they will throw my stuff in the garbage if they see me again.
I know it's against community posting rules but fuck off!
(rant/vent over) carry on.
So much for security.
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Permalink Reply by Cameron 7.5 mi on -
I work in the same building as Liz. Entering through the parking garage or the delivery center would be fine. In fact I often ride through the parking garage since the building spans the entire block and it’s the easiest way to get to the one way going the way I want. The building management is quick to dismiss these solutions as unworkable because truthfully they don’t want to do anything and saying it’s “for my safety” seems like a good way to get me out of their office. Really I’m just looking for evidence to point to that this works in similar buildings and isn’t an unheard of amenity.
Also if they were really worried about my safety, there are a lot of things they would fix.
lauren sailor said:Liz, i'm sure the parking garage or delivery center would be fine, though i can definitely see your building nixing bikes in the lobby. since the delivery area is probably easy enough for riders to access, entering and parking near that makes a lot of sense. as for the garage, if the building management is worried about your safety, perhaps they can post a "Watch for Bicycles" sign near the entrance (maybe near the "10mph" sign that's probably there, hah! you ride in Chicago traffic: are they really worried about you in a <i>parking garage</i>?!).
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Permalink Reply by Digital Dario on -
Large (25+) 4th floor bike room with key fob access only but only 1 shower. But it looks like I shouldn't complain about having that one shower for all 10-20 people that ride, I know I'm already spoiled with that bike room.
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Permalink Reply by Jay on -
This is the bike room at 680 N Lakeshore. It's accessible via the parking garage, where there's a narrow walkway along the wall separated from the exit ramp by a metal barrier. There's no charge to use the bike room, though registration with building management required. They give you a sticker to put on your bike and a key to get into the room. There are no shower services provided by the building, but the gym in the building across the street has a "shower/locker room only" plan that was around $40/month when I last inquired about it a couple of years ago. I've never done the shower deal at the gym because my workplace is casual enough where I can get away with a babywipe shower on the hottest days.There are at least four or five obviously abandoned bikes in there, which is super annoying since the room gets overfull in the summer. It was particularly bad the summer of 2008 when gas prices were so high and more people were biking. I expect it will be even worse this summer, though it's hard to complain since it's great to have a secure, indoor bike room when so many people have nothing.
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Permalink Reply by mike w. on -
Sounds like someone there has a personal problem with you. Sorry to hear that. Is he messing with other folk's stuff as well? Do you have another bike no one there has seen that you could use for awhile to see if that one gets left alone?
i once had a co-worker who occasionally would puncture my tyre in a similar manner. Never could catch him at it, though. One day, he messed with the wrong person the wrong way and got his sorry butt fired. End of problem.
Mike Zumwalt said:Secure schmecure.
My building has indoor bike parking but someone that works in the building or accesses it regularly is letting the air out of my tires, poking a needle through the sidewall!
3 flats in Feb/Mar alone!
Not too mention taking the light of my back pack and telling me they will throw my stuff in the garbage if they see me again.
I know it's against community posting rules but fuck off!
(rant/vent over) carry on.
So much for security.
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