Are our cycle stands in Bath under pressure from advertising? John and Lucy Taylor write:
‘My wife and I cycled into Bath today as usual and wondered if you’d ever run a feature on the problem of businesses which take up limited bike parking with their advertising bikes?
We left our bikes at the bottom of Milsom Street, next to a florist’s advertising bike and a bike with a huge child trailer advertising sash windows.
Great news feed we get via your emails thank you; always interesting.”
Thanks for your comments and kind words about Bath Newseum. I haven’t come across those particular ad-bikes but remember seeing several regulars on other cycle stand pitches.
What do other cyclists feel about this? Nothing illegal – as far as l know – but is it a case of occupying much-needed cycle parking spaces or plenty enough to go around!
I suspect the problem is also one to consider from a point of view of the visually impaired who find bike stands placed in the middle of major thoroughfares a real problem. Imagine negotiating a set of stands with spiky metal things attached to them with a white stick.
These stands are also attractive to businesses simply because they are “in the way”.
A better approach would be to take away on street parking in favour of square VIP friendly cycle parking (i.e. the car shaped mobile cycle racks), removing the cycle parking in major pedestrian thoroughfares that cause problems for VIPs and encourage the advertising bikes.
As an example installation of multiple on street mobile cycle racks on Cheap Street and removing the three Sheffield Stands on Stall Street would increase the amount of bike storage, which is sorely needed, while removing the ‘advertising space’ and VIP issue from Stall Street.