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Pod people are here and taking over our bike lanes
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Comments
Tow the pod and ticket both
Tow the pod and ticket both the pod company and the pod renter. Enough with this BS.
And while we're at it
let's triple the fines.
Is it possible to tow a pod?
Is it possible to tow a pod? even when it's full?
Um, sure
You just drag the fucker. People leave something like that in the street, no one and I mean NO ONE is under any obligation to keep it from being damaged.
The Boot?
I'd like to see one with a boot on it.
I reported one of these to 311
It wasn't blocking a bike lane. It was blocking a normal traffic lane on already narrow Braintree Street in Allston. 311 closed the case within five minutes. "Case noted" was all they had to say. Gee, thanks for the help.
try the fire department next
try the fire department next time?
YES!!!
I love it!! all though the pods should be painted like turkeys hahaha
Pls lighten up a little, people
Lot of people use pods when moving from apartment to apartment this time of year. They are 99% of the time picked within 24hrs.
Wrong
I don't know where you live, but the pods are not typically picked up within 24 hrs in Cambridge. Plus, you need a permit to put one on the street just like a moving van. No one would've had a permit to put one in a bike lane
pay for it
Get a moving permit to occupy the space and/or pay for 24 hours of parking tickets.
Lots of people use roads too
At all times of year. But that's pretty tough when someone's decided to just leave their personal crap blocking the public roads.
That entire side of the
That entire side of the street is marked as no stopping so the city would not even issue a permit for the house for a moving box. I wonder how hard it makes it to move in and out of that house assuming no driveway to leave that box.
Yeah, I'd be horrified if my
Yeah, I'd be horrified if my side of the street suddenly became a no stopping zone. The problem isn't just pods -- where would they park a moving truck? And I say this as a cyclist.
They'd do what everyone else
They'd do what everyone else does, and park it wherever they could find a legal space. Yes, you might end up having to carry stuff down the street or around the corner, but that's city living for you. If you want to be guaranteed to be able to park a truck in front of your house, move to the suburbs to a house with a driveway.
If it isn't a no-stopping
If it isn't a no-stopping zone, you CAN be guaranteed a parking space for a moving truck or pod. The city even reserves the spot for you.
The problem is when someone moves into a place with one set of parking regulations in front, and then the city drastically changes them one day. If someone doesn't have a driveway, they're basically screwed for things like moving trucks. I know, not the biggest problem in the overall scheme of things. But it is a problem nonetheless for people in certain situations.
Then get a moving truck
Don't use boxes.
You can't (legally) park a
You can't (legally) park a moving truck either, if there's a curbside bike lane and no parking lane in front of your house.
So park it where it is legal
and carry things over. That's what reasonable people do.
This is an appallingly classist remark
My husband and I moved cross-country twice. We've had similar sized apartments on each end of both moves.
For our first cross-country move, two self-packed Door to Door boxes (now Uboxes), plus parking permits on both ends, plus airfare and checked bags to our destination, were about $3,800.
A drive-yourself Uhaul truck rental alone would be $2,500. Then add $1500 in mileage charges, plus gas (9 miles per gallon x 3,000 miles x about $3/gal = $1,000), plus 4 nights in a hotel, plus 12 meals on the road, totals about $6,500. Plus parking permits.
Our second move was paid for by my husband's employer. We used a partitioned truck, driven by a moving crew, and flew ourselves to our destination. This cost his employer $15,000.
So yeah, not everyone can afford a moving truck.
in my day
people moved without 'pods'. they're not necessary and if you want to move, you should figure out how to do it legally and without putting other people in danger.
I know this sounds bitter but
I know this sounds bitter but god forbid people just bike around something like this for a few days.
Screw that and screw your
Screw that and screw your attitude that leads to cyclists being killed. You value the possessions of a criminal breaking the law over the lives on cyclists? That is messed up. There are parking spots all over where this pod could go, including in the picture above. Put the damn pod in one of them. You sure as hell wouldn't expect drivers to swerve around this thing for 3 days, would you? Exactly. Because drivers are entitled cry babies.
Attitude?
Sorry but you legit sound crazy. You literally are never happy. Sorry to hear about your life.
I’ve literally been riding my
I’ve literally been riding my bike in Boston as my own mode of transit for close to 15 years, I’m just saying I’d bike around it, believe it or not having to bike around something hasn’t gotten me killed. Its called looking before you dart out into traffic...
its called
not being forced to "dart out into traffic" in the first place.
Hop up onto the sidewalk real
Hop up onto the sidewalk real quick?? Like actually apply the brake, swing your leg off, and walk the bike around. Is that not a safer alternative? Hell, ride on the sidewalk. I (as a pedestrian) wouldn't even care if that's what you had to do to not swerve into traffic.
I don't know why everyone BUT cyclists are expected to make all these concessions for city living. Who put you on top of everyone else?
two things
First, in this instance, someone has placed their personal belongings blocking a lane of travel. There's no way, barring some crazy emergency, that you can possibly argue that's ok and "just the price of city living". No, designated spaces and the rules that govern them exist for a reason. Following the rules is the price of city living. Yes, of course it's physically possible to get around it. But that doesn't make it ok, nor does it, in any way, make cyclists some kind of entitled assholes. I commented below about that sort of attitude and where it leads to - spoiler alert: it's not a fun place.
Thought experiment: if this were blocking a lane of auto traffic, would you say the same thing? How do you think that scenario would play out? Why?
Second, in the pyramid of transit preference, actually, cyclists are above all other forms of transport, except pedestrians.
Good for you
I too am a skilled cyclist, and would have no problem doing so.
My kids however, while skilled cyclists, are kids. Their reaction time and judgment of distance and speed aren't fully developed, and won't be until they're about 18. They are able to safely bike places within a couple miles of our house, like the YMCA or a friend's house. They're aware of the stretches of road where there aren't bike lanes, and know to position themselves visibly in the lane. But if they're using a bike lane and then find it blocked by a pod, Uber, Lyft, UPS truck, or Northeastern cop, they need to swerve out into the lane to get around it. This is a prime setup for them to get hit. Similarly, older and disabled people have the right to use bikes to travel safely, and may also not have the reaction time or skill to quickly swerve out into the lane.
People don't get to put their personal possessions in a bike lane that's legally designated only for bike travel, and they don't get to endanger cyclists.
Drivers have to go around
Drivers have to go around things all the time. (Not swerve -- you only need to swerve when things jump out at you, not because of stationary obstacles.)
Just last week my bus got stuck in traffic on Brookline Ave in the LMA because the police had blocked off a travel lane for student move-in. Stuff happens.
So you'd be fine with a pod blocking the driving lane?
After all, you can always just go around it, right?
And you do realize the difference between a legal street closure with a police presence and someone just dumping their personal belongings on the road, right?
not god forbid
but the law forbids.
also, being a decent person forbids.
anecdote time: i live in a major foreign city, in a place where 'little things' like this are common. in fact, there's a local phrase specifically for the attitude you are expressing, which is along the lines of 'eh, just a little', 'just this once', 'what can it hurt?' .. and when everyone does that, no one respects anything, not wheelchair ramps, not crosswalks, not red lights, certainly not bike lanes, nothing. and when you try to ask someone to not park on the sidewalk, not block the crosswalk, they get mad at you for not 'being cool about it' and 'just going around'. exactly like you say.
is that the kind of place you want to live in? its really not that great.
what I love about coming home to Boston is that shit like this doesn't happen and that attitudes like yours aren't so prevalent.
This is dead on
That's the attitude that rewards the rudest, the least considerate, and eventually forces everyone else to follow their lead. It leads to a society in which nothing works, and everyone thinks it's someone else's fault.
Parenthetically, bicyclists frequently exhibit this tendency. The proportion of bicyclists (in Cambridge, anyway) who take stop signs, crosswalks, and traffic lights seriously is fairly small.
Be honest now
The proportion of motorists (in Cambridge, anyway) who take stop signs, crosswalks, and traffic lights seriously is fairly small.
I'll remember this the next time I'm legally occupying a bike lane at a full stop at a light with a no turn on red sign and some asshole motorist starts laying on the horn.
In Boston
And here on the other side of the river, the proportion of bicyclists in Boston who take stop signs, crosswalks, and traffic lights seriously is zero.
If you don't mind...
... could you identify the city you are referring to?
sure.
Mexico City.
There's even a group of social-media "vigilantes" here that expose bad citizen and government behavior precisely along these lines. They got big a couple of years ago filming people who didn't respect bike lanes and crosswalks and demanding more enforcement from the city.
They're called the SuperCivicos, some of their videos are entertaining and you can get the idea even if you don't speak Spanish.
i just remembered
the Times did a piece on them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/world/americas/mexico-city-comedians-...
Well
Could get a squad of cyclists to push it into the all vehicle travel lane.
Then watch the fun.
Then why not block other
Then why not block other vehicles?
I mean, it is really just ill-considered and inconsiderate.
Put it on the sidewalk, let
Put it on the sidewalk, let the pedestrians walk around it. They won't need to go into traffic to navigate around this ridiculous thing.
I'm hoping that the irony
I'm hoping that the irony fairy will fly down, sprinkle the pod with magic dust, and open it to reveal - chock full of bicycles!!!
No plates on PODS but still able to tow them
Unless there was some advanced permit or emergency "permission to park," I'm doubtful police would allow it to stay there. I don't think the pod itself has a plate (only the delivery truck does) so it would be impossible to tag it. Any of the larger tow companies with a flat-bed ramp truck large enough could remove it (Toedsco, Coady's Schlagers etc. all on the state list with huge tow trucks) . Then it would be up to the renter or POD company owner to deal with towing and storage at the tow yard. It shouldn't be allowed there.