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Superstar
Toronto Star: Mayor Rob Ford says he will try to kill City Hall bike station with showers
“I’m going to try to kill it at council, but that’s a complete waste of taxpayers’ money,” Mayor Rob Ford told the media Tuesday, when asked about the station during an announcement about summer road construction.
The $1.2 million bike station was approved by the government management committee Monday and will go to council for approval next month. The plan includes four showers.
When constructed, the station would be one of the biggest in North America, with room to secure 380 bikes. Chicago’s Millennium Park bike station – called the McDonald’s Cycle Center — has 300 indoor secure spaces and was the biggest in the country when it opened in 2006.
In Europe, bike stations have an even greater capacity. The Amsterdam train station has two bike stations with room for 5,000 bikes each, says Dan Egan, Toronto's cycling infrastructure manager.
Councillor Doug Ford issued similar comments against the project Monday.
The station will be in the Toronto Parking Authority garage below City Hall, which will lose 24 spaces to accommodate it. At capacity, the spaces would generate $70,000 annually in parking revenue.
“We’re taking away parking space down here at City Hall that is creating $70,000 worth of revenue, and — ready for this, folks? — they’re putting in showers for the bike riders to come down here, to a tune of $1.2 million,” Doug Ford said Monday. “That’s the gravy train. That is reckless spending — to put showers here at City Hall at $1.2 million. It’s disgusting.”
It's seems a 'no-brainer' to have a dedicated, fully functional bicycle lockup room in one of the largest underground parking garages in the world in downtown Toronto. I'm curious as to why it costs $1.2 million for a bicycle room (which will no doubt bloat before it's built), four showers and presumably two change rooms. That said this is exactly the tone the City should be setting for businesses to encourage people to cycle to work. In fact bike rooms and showers aren't uncommon in downtown office buildings now. Ford's tiny mind also assumes that these spots are used 24/7/365, which they are not, so he'd be smart to adjust his rhetoric - so he won't.