Mo Money - But not for Hiring
Supposedly, some federal money is involved, which just means that any shortfall or revocation of funding means Chicago is on the hook for millions:
- Transferring from a train to a bus stuck in traffic is often the most frustrating and slowest way to finish a commute, prompting Chicago officials on Wednesday to start the wheels rolling on a new transit option.
The city and a company to be chosen will launch a bicycle-sharing rental program next summer, working toward a goal of providing 3,000 bikes for short-term use between 300 pickup and drop-off stations, officials said. The program will be expanded in 2013 and 2014 to include an additional 2,000 bicycles and 200 more docking stations.
It would operate like car-sharing programs such as I-Go, officials said.
3,000 bikes? 300 "docking stations"? Plus expansion within two years? We just don't see this turning a profit within two years meaning more "subsidies" to make it profitable to some connected individual. Anyone who wants to bike to work is already doing it and using the CTA to transport their bikes already.
Labels: silly people
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
40 Comments:
"The city and a company to be chosen will launch a bicycle-sharing rental program next summer, working toward a goal of providing 3,000 bikes for one-time use between 300 pickup stations and 82nd and Hoyne."
Between 'Natural Selection' in traffic, scrappers and old school bike thieves those bikes will be gone inside of three months.
But potholes are forever! at least the ones on my block
What's a docking station?
Is that like something that a clouted outsourced city parking meter outfit would run?
Can we rent the bikes for the next critical mass event?
Beside the fact that most of these bikes will "disappear" who got the contract? No Yellow Pages at work here. The usual suspects?
Where, exactly, is this unsightly mess going to descend upon us? I just can't hardly wait to see this plunked down in the middle of my neighborhood.
"Vanecko & Daley Bike Rental Company"
Channel 7 also had a Chuck Goudy, I-Team Investigation on the State of Illinois, who claims it is broke, but doing a $150 MILLION dollar renovation on the State Capital building:
"There are line items for gilding and new electronic window shades. Mahogany desks, bronze handrails, and decorative iron grates will be installed. The restrooms will be redone, adding stone partitions to divide the toilets - and new Italian marble will be put in.
The renovation includes all-new kitchen equipment, including a sandwich refrigerator, rotary toaster, pizza cabinet, and sneeze guards..."
The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform says when the state is having trouble paying its bills, renovating the entire capitol instead of fixing just what is necessary sends the wrong message.
"Jobs could be saved, jobs could be created with this amount of money," said Brian Gladstein of the Campaign for Political Reform. "If there's a question about there about money being used to fix up their own house and not fix up the state, I think that people should be asking questions."
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=8363603
This city has money coming out of its ass for everything other than public safety and hiring police officers.
Hiring and the city's pension obligations are 2 of the farthest things on Rahms mind. He deems both to be not very important. Why worry about silly stuff like that when he can piss away money on frivolous ideas? In the words of Shortshanks that's just silly,silly,silly.
Maybe, then they can add an additional 50 PPO or PO to PTS to monitor the program/thefts..
Or better, since special will be cancelled in April, start a new VSEP just to moniter the bicycles.
Ive got my electric bike to get around so I wont need dirty and smelly CTA ever again. I never break a sweat biking to work either.
Thank you!!
I didn't find this proposal at Rahm's website
www.chicagobudget.org
O.T.:
I heard about a book today that covers Obama and the white house. The author claims that Obama was going to fire Rahm. It just so happened that Shanks decided not to run again so Rahm threw his hat in the ring and Obama didn't have to fire him. Could it be Rahm wasn't the golden child that Obama was touting him to be when he was running for mayor? Ya think??
Now we've got this problem child for the next 3 plus years.
9/21/2011 09:52:00 PM
I believe that is in the book is "Confidence Men" by Ron Suskind. Just got it in the mail from Amazon yesterday.
The yups will elect the ballerino again--that's all he cares about.
Actually with the population of the city of Chicago now below 3 million, the police are over staffed. Much of the manpower is wasted on special or inside units. Do you really need both tact and gangs? Or gun teams?
Even if the city had all the money it wanted, I do not think they would hire any more police. The job is still getting done. Face it, cops will whine no matter the situation. CPD will always get a crap raise, a crap boss, and a crap deal. The city has always got away with it, always will. Keep crying guys, until YOU do something about it, it's not going to change.
Anonymous said...
O.T.:
I heard about a book today that covers Obama and the white house. The author claims that Obama was going to fire Rahm. It just so happened that Shanks decided not to run again so Rahm threw his hat in the ring and Obama didn't have to fire him. Could it be Rahm wasn't the golden child that Obama was touting him to be when he was running for mayor? Ya think??
Now we've got this problem child for the next 3 plus years.
9/21/2011 09:52:00 PM
Why don't you read the book and then comment?
People that are into bikes already have them this is a waste of money.
SCC, just let menknow before I spend time typing out a well thought out comment to post... Have you banned med from your blog or something? You NEVER post my comments. I'm tired of typing out well thought out commentaries only to have you shit can them.
That's because they want us biking around like the communist Chinese. Next they'll have us wearing green uniforms with a red star on them.
I'm a free American. I'll ride my Harley next to the bikers and make sure they smell my gas fumes.
Just in "bike theft unit," now started! What a dumb idea, how much more taxpayer dollars will be spent? Rahm the genie keeps finding money,boat houses on the dirty chicago river at 4 MILLION a pop 16+ million poof discovered and gone! Money for police? got none! money to keep stations open? None New police equipment? Nope cannot find any! Liberal projects? yep got BILLIONS!
9/22/2011 02:54:00 AM
We need a REVOLUTION and now!!
How much (extremely scarce) City money is going into this boondoggle?
And are there private parties willing to put in thesse oh-so-green bikeshares? They had 'em up by the Hancock Building last summer - and I believe those were privately financed.
As for the bikes getting stolen - at least the ones at the Hancock required the user to put in a credit card deposit - bike doesn't get returned, credit card gets nailed.
Whopeee!!! I do remember some years back, when someone was renting out these fancy Italian made 4 wheel qudacycles on the Lakefront somewhere near Hyde Park
I think our 3rd watch recovered a couple of these things tooling down the street near 47th and Indiana minus the renters...these things were as big as a car, seated 4 with a canopy top. This should be fun
"The Yups will elect the Ballerino again -- that's all he cares about."
--9/22/2011 05:33:00 AM
They're scared. The "urban prairie" is coming for them -- right on the doorstep of THEIR precious condo.
They should be thrilled. They can paint murals on the empty factories and make "performance spaces" and "community centers" out of the empty stores.
Right?
"Rats, trash, trees and graffiti are the big problems” in the 32nd Ward at the moment.
"The City Council passed an ordinance last month that changes the definition of “property holder” to include banks for properties in foreclosure. This measure allows the city to force banks to take responsibility for abandoned properties. There are about 80-100 of those properties in the ward.
...and where will the banks get the money? Certainly not from their customers, or from taxpayers as a whole...
"This summer [Ald. Waguespack] organized a crew to “roust out” homeless people from abandoned properties in the ward and to put on new locks on those properties."
"Property! Property! Property!" is their rallying cry.
God, I hate dealing with the ones who are still wearing that work ID around their neck at 10:30 at night like they were some kind of official, bitching that someone dropped a paper cup on their property, stepped on their property, looked in the direction of their property...
Just you wait. Market going through the floor again today. A lot bigger fish than these little s__tasses have ended up sleeping in the subway.
Remember Samuel Insull?
Heard on the radio today that something like 25% of twentysomethings are still living with their parents -- college graduates, but unable to find work and unable to marry and raise a family. They were using the phrase "Lost Generation."
http://www.roscoeviewjournal.com/news/ald-waguespack-says-much-of-city-run-by-the-same-people-as-before
"3,000 bikes? 300 'docking stations'?"
These people get their paychecks from a word-world. That's why the economy is collapsing.
"Docking stations?" Hey, man, I'm, like, goin' zero-grav, you know? Whoa! Kinda makes you dizzy. It's really weird looking out the window and seeing Earth all upside-down like that.
Do they, have, like, oxygen and stuff that goes into your helmet?
I gotta go reinvent myself now. See ya.
I cannot even begin to think how well this is likely to work.
OPEN THE BOOKS SAID: Is there going to be a bike unit cause i can call my uncle and he can make some calls and ill be riding down Mich Ave YES. Re-creation: Definition to re-event or inovate an idea, ideal,task,or job. A shell game to reduce this departmet and reward Cronies. What a scam. Contract time open the books.
Vaneckos have expanded their tentacles into the Bicycle Business? What next?
He is trying to do what DC has in a bike share program. There are bike rentals ports by all the train stations and people,mostly tourists utilize them. Profitable for the District but there are different dynamics in the Capitol as opposed to Chicago. The bike rentals are very expensive and requires a credit card.
SCC, just let menknow before I spend time typing out a well thought out comment to post... Have you banned med from your blog or something? You NEVER post my comments. I'm tired of typing out well thought out commentaries only to have you shit can them.
Are your "well thought out commentaries" falling within the allowable parameters? ALL CAPS gets you deleted. Naming names in what can only be charitably described as outright libel gets it deleted. Quoting somebody else's "War and Peace" narrative with a one word reply gets deleted. Any reference to assorted racial slurs or misogynist rants also get banned. If you have specific questions as to what we permit, e-mail us - the address is in the profile.
POWER test notifications are going out with a class next month.....maybe.
I agree with you 100% SCC; but the question is, suppose it catches on -- each bus only has room for 2 bikes -- if we add 5000 more bikes, where will they put them? On the roof of the bus??
What's a docking station?
Is that like something that a clouted outsourced city parking meter outfit would run?
9/22/2011 12:22:00 AM
Nope. That's either something for your old school Kodak digital camera, or the new shelters going in for the canoeists.
There's 4 wheel bike rentals at Navy Pier area, one day joe decided he was going to take one for 'a ride'. He wound up in 012's ALBA territory. And eventually Br.43.
Where will these bikes wind up? The City should just give that money away.
Anonymous said...
POWER test notifications are going out with a class next month.....maybe.
9/22/2011 07:04:00 PM
When they walk thru the door of 1300 West, then I will believe that Rahm is hiring.
By the way, what's he using/saving all the TIF $$ for?
He promised to HIRE 250 new PPO's with TIF funds once he was elected.
I gotta go reinvent myself now. See ya.
9/22/2011 02:35:00 PM
that's fine, but please be discrete about it.
Actually with the population of the city of Chicago now below 3 million, the police are over staffed. Much of the manpower is wasted on special or inside units. Do you really need both tact and gangs? Or gun teams?
9/22/2011 07:40:00 AM
apparently, someone had to go and wake up the gimp.
the that owns bike-chicago rentals will get the contract. he has the money to get the fix in his favor."the chicago way"
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