Bikes in a box?

There is some buzz around campus about the possibility of coming up with more secure bike parking options at McGill. Together with a trend towards leaving more bike parking accessible during the winter it seems as though the administration is starting to envision McGill as a distinctly bike-friendly destination. Nothin' wrong with that!

One proposal making the rounds is to install secure bike lockers (check out an example here). These would allow you to put your entire bike and associated paraphernalia under lock and key, presumably for a reasonable fee. I think this idea could work, but I forsee one major pitfall: I won't use these lockers if there is a good chance that they'll all be full when I show up with my bike. Even passing by whatever corner of campus they'd be installed in on my way to my regular lockup would be a pain if the odds were against me. How would McGill successfully match supply and demand? I imagine by either installing a ton of lockers, charging hefty fees, or perhaps by having the lockers available through a subscription service. Given that the first option isn't especially likely, these lockers will probably end up out of reach of your average commuting Jane and Joe. Perhaps this is the best we can hope for.

There are likely several successful models that have been implemented at other universities that we could emulate — and perhaps I've overlooked something in my casual analysis above. Opinions are being actively sought on this issue, so make sure your voice gets heard! Write something intelligible to taooftraffic@mcgilldaily.com and I'd be happy to showcase your perspective.