I’m reposting this from a post I made on the BIcycle Austin Forum.

I just heard a story on KUT that suggests the city plans to phase out parking meters in favor of multi-space kiosks. Under this scheme, motorists walk to a kiosk that serves several spaces on a block, the kiosk prints out a pass, and then the motorist walks back to her car to display the pass on her dash. It sounds like a hassle to me, but the story suggests drivers prefer it, perhaps because the machine accepts credit cards.

What does this have to do with cycling? Well, the parking meters are going away. I’ve read that cyclists in Washington and other jurisdictions have complained because they lose a lot of posts for locking their rides. Since bike parking is scant in several areas downtown, like Sixth Street, I wonder what impact this will have on cycling downtown.

Rather than stand in the way of progress, perhaps this is an opportunity to get more bike racks installed downtown. They have to do something with all those stump poles or holes in the ground, so why not install racks when the meters go out?

Does the city have a plan for replacing these bike parking spots when the meters come out?