The IKEA retail outlet in New Haven, Connecticut occupies a large lot on a strip of land squeezed between the rail complex and the rail station and I 95 which houses warehousing, wholesale firms, a medical center, and a few services including a restaurants and motel.
Beside the IKEA entrance is a sign touting bicycling and a simple two sided bike rack with a capacity of about eight bicycles...with one side against the wall so only four bicycles can easily be docked. No matter when I went by there were zero bikes there. Then there are the rows of parking,up to 16 rows of up by 50 cars each, all told about 1,000 parking spaces. The bus stop on either side of the four-lane frontage road is about 150 yards from the IKEA entrance and another 50 yards further from the exit doors.
This situation represents the pinnacle of car dominance and condition no longer sustainable.
Or bicycle riders use the delivery service. It's a bit hard to get a bed home on a bike. Especially without a trailer.
ReplyDeleteI was reading another article (I forget the source) that found bicycle riders make more shopping trips than the general population. Good news for merchants, I suppose, and it matches real life results that see merchant sales increase when bike lanes are added.