St Albans City Station - Cycle Parking

STACC's Richard-571 reports from St Albans Cycling Forum (16th April).....

Just wanted to point up the helpful post-Forum piece in Herts Advertiser
(Thursday 19 April, page 5) in case anyone missed it.
( Article is reproduced below)

Highlights from the article include Larry Heyman of FCC (ex-Thameslink):
1) predicting saturation of car parking capacity by 2012
2) suggesting that "150 cycle spaces could be provided (initially)"
3) ...as a first step towards our medium term target of 1,000 spaces.

Less good news... floating of parking charges for cyclists, and "new
racks will depend on funding which has not been found as of yet".

Jack's contribution to this piece picks up on funding - and makes the point the article
might have started with - "Leave your car at home and get on you bike"

Clearly the Forum has proved useful again...

PS: ....here's a link to a letter about cycling to Royston Station:
http://www.hertsad.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=ROYWestOnline&category=Postbag&itemid=WEED19%20Apr%202007%2011:21:11:967&tBrand=ROYWestOnline&tCategory=search

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Article in Herts Advertiser 19/4/07

EVEN with a new multi-storey car park being built at St Albans City Station, it’s predicted that by 2012 it will run out of room.

With the steady increase in the city’s growth, the new 813-space car park at the station is likely to be full in five years’ time, according to train operator First Capital Connect’s Integration and partnership manager, Larry Heyman, who also lives in St Albans. He said: “At the moment there is an average of 500 people a day parking at the station but with the fact that there is an awful lot of development in Herts I can imagine that by 2012 that car park could be pretty well full.” Now new ways of enhancing the provision for cyclists are being investigated and after a meeting with the St Albans Cyclists Forum (SCF) this week, Mr Heyman said that 150 new cycle racks could be provided. He also wants many more to be introduced to meet the SCF’s benchmark of 1,000. He said: “At the moment there are 396 racks and on a typical day these are all used and there are an extra 150 cycles chained to lampposts, fences and pretty much anything that doesn’t move.” Due to a lack of space Mr Heyman is now looking into double level cycle racks with a cantilever design and will be going out with the SCF to look at ways other stations have met the cyclists’ needs. This will include some stations where cyclists are charged a fee but FCC want to avoid this wherever possible. Mr Heyman said: “I also want to make sure the new racks are ones that cyclists want to use and that are safe and secure so people can be confident they will find their bike in the same condition as it was left in the morning.” However the new racks will depend on funding which has not been found as of yet. Jack Pia, of the St Albans Cycling Committee and the SCF, said this was achievable: “I think it’s of major importance. Herts County Council realises this and have discussed joint funding. There are a lot more resources for cyclists these days to encourage them to use cars less. The district council also has funds for cycling.” He added: “It’s not just for those who want to save the world, but for people who want to save money and get to work quicker without being held up in traffic. People drive amazingly short distances to get to the station but if you live within two miles or less, it is a hell of a lot easier to cycle.”

Liz adds....

Thanks to Jack for chasing this and getting some good coverage. STACC now await invitation from Larry to visit some other stations to view and comment on their cycle parking provision e.g double decker parking at Guildford Station.