Bike racks anyone?
I sent an e-mail to the Duluth Transit Authority last year questioning why it takes bike racks off before winter — seeing how in cities with somewhat similar weather (e.g. Minneapolis, Portland) leave them on year ’round and are rated some of the best cycler-friendly cities nationwide.
This morning I did the same, but with results:
I have forwarded this on for a response.
I do believe we have decided this year not to remove them.
I will supply a response when I get it.
Thank you for your inquiry.Aleda M. Johnson
Director of Information Technology
Duluth Transit Authority
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Good news for cyclists, hope to see you all on the roads/trails this winter!
Eric Skinner;
Good news! This year the DTA will start leaving bike racks on all year! The reason we have not in the past is corrosion of the rack and brackets that hold it on to the bus. We have been replacing many of these with stainless steel parts so that the corrosion will be limited. The salts that are used on the streets and bridges here are so strong that a few years ago when we attempted this about half of the brackets were permanently damaged.
But, all that is in the past and starting this year they will stay on. Good riding!
Jim Heilig, DTA
722-4426 ext. 316
A DTA bus driver a few weeks ago told me they were leaving them on year round due to requests from people. Hope he was right!
Oh yeah, it was the DTA representative at the Harvest Fest who told me that and then gave me a free ticket when I told her how much fun it’d been riding downhill to the Fest but I was not looking forward to going back uphill later that day!
That’s fantastic news. Glad to hear it.
SWEET! Nice for those days when we get 2 feet of snow and you need to get home.
I could appreciate their prior concern–I can’t believe how badly Yakima and Thule racks hold up to the weather. After a winter or two, they look like 19th century shipwreck debris.
Portland weather isn’t quite similar… they’re too close to the ocean to get the -30 arctic death blasts we get here. Anyhow, that’s good they’re leaving them on this year!