1. News

Busy Week for Minister Pakula and Parkiteer Cages

15 March 2010. It's been a busy week for the Minister for Public Transport Martin Pakula and the Parkiteer cage program.

On Friday 12 March the Minister attended the official opening of the Nunawading station Parkiteer cage (see below) and then on Monday 15 March the Minister was at Marshall train station, on the Bellarine peninsula, to announce a Parkiteer cage would be constructed there as part of a car park upgrade at the station.

The Marshall station Parkiteer cage will be the third in the area and usage should be high going on the popularity of the cages at Geelong and South Geelong.

Work is expected to be completed by the middle of this year.

Please see the state government website for the official Marshall station announcement.

Minister for Public Transport opens Nunawading Parkiteer cage

12 March 2010. Today, Minister for Public Transport Martin Pakula and Federal Member for Deakin, Mike Symon, opened the Parkiteer cage at Nunawading Station.

"This will encourage cycling as a practical transport option with riders able to safely secure their bikes and catch the train or bus to other destinations for work, school or leisure and it further improves public transport facilities in the eastern suburbs by providing an integrated intermodal transport hub, encompassing SmartBus and train services," Mr Pakula said.

Minister Pakula and Mike Symon were joined by Member for Mitcham Tony Robinson as well as members of the Whitehorse Cyclists.

Please click here to register for the cage.

 

Nunawading Parkiteer almost open

5 March 2010. The Nunawading Parkiteer cage is complete and will open as soon as works in the surrounding area have been completed.

As you can see from the images below the cage is all ready for business but as there is still construction going on in the access area bike riders will have to wait a bit longer.

The cage is expected to be open for use on Monday 15 March. 

 

 

New Station at Coolaroo to include a Parkiteer Cage

2 March 2010. The new train station currently being constructed at Coolaroo will include a Parkiteer cage. Bike riders in the North West of Melbourne will be well serviced as there are already Parkiteer cages at Glenroy, Broadmeadows and Roxburgh Park.

At this stage a completion date hasn't been advised but more information will be posted as soon as it comes to hand.

Please click here to register for the cage.

New year ravers use more cages

3 February 2010. The start of the year has resulted in a sudden flood of people switching to the bike for the journey to the local railway station, according to data collected by the Parkiteer bike cage system.

More than 100 people signed up to use Parkiteer cages in January which is a 25 per cent increase on the best month of 2009.

Why the sudden increase? Has there been a string of New Year resolutions, with commuters pledging to do that little bit of extra exercise during 2010? Or has the message landed that driving a car only a few kilometres to the station is a waste of money and scarce energy.

Four New Cages

In line with the growing demand, the number of Parkiteer bike cages at train stations has also increased. By the end of February there will be new cages at Ferntree Gully, Laverton, Noble Park and Nunawading train stations.

Laverton station will be only the second station (after Frankston) to have two cages installed. This is a great win for commuters in the area who have sent emails and letters to the Department of Transport requesting better bike parking facilities at the station.

To access the new cages when they open, please register your details. 

The cages are providing an active transport alternative for commuters travelling to train stations and bus terminals throughout Victoria.

Reduced $20 Bond Trial

29 January 2010. The $20 bond trial finished today at 5pm. We will be analysing the numbers to see if it made a difference to the number of people registering for a Parkiteer card.

20 January 2010. We have reduced the bond from $50 to $20 at some cages (for the rest of January) to see if the amount of the bond payment is an obstacle in people signing up to the Parkiteer cages.

Most of the cages we have chosen have another cage nearby that will still have a $50 bond. In this way we’ll be able to compare the rego numbers and hopefully see if the reduced bond has an effect.

The stations included in this trial are:

Bendigo
Broadmeadows
Cranbourne
Croydon
Doncaster
Kyneton
Morwell
Seaford

Second Cage for Frankston Station

19 November 2009. A second cage has opened at Frankston station due to an increase in the number of people riding their bikes to the station. It's great to see that 40% of all cage users are car drivers that have made the change to riding their bikes.

Cages Open in Doncaster and Moe

6 October 2009. The final two cages in Stage 2 of the Parkiteer program have opened at Moe train station and Doncaster Park and Ride bus terminal. The 16 cages added to the network in stage 2 make 39 cages in total.

Cages Open at Reservoir and Glen Waverley

1 October 2009. Two new cages have opened at Reservoir and Glen Waverley. There are still cages at Moe and Doncaster Park and Ride to open soon in Stage 2 of the Parkiteer cage program.

Twelve New Cages Open

23 September 2009. There are now twelve new Parkiteer bike parking cages open at train stations in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. These are East Malvern, Cranbourne, Sunshine, Oakleigh, Heidelberg, Chelsea, Seaford, Berwick, Morwell, Melton, Bacchus Marsh, and Kyneton.

 

New Cages Open at Chelsea and Oakleigh

1 September 2009. Two new cages have opened at Chelsea and Oakleigh station with another 14 to be opened in the next few weeks. There are 11 Metropolitan cages and 5 Regional cages. The new cages include the first Parkiteer cage at a bus terminal (Doncaster).

Parkiteers get in gear

26 February 2009. The 18 Metropolitan cages built by the State Government in late 2008 have now been open for business for two months. With people returning to work and school, registrations have been coming in a steady flow.

Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Brighton Beach are showing the way as commuters clearly demonstrate that the provision of secure bike parking is not only getting more people riding more often but those who were previously driving to the station have now converted to bikes.

At Brighton Beach the introduction of the Parkiteer cage has seen 14 people previously driving to the station now riding. The balance of cage members were already riding or using other methods to get to the station.

This clearly shows the investment in the cages has more than paid off in health, congestion and parking benefits.

This scenario is not unique as other cages are demonstrating a consistent pattern with at least 50% of cage users ex-drivers; At Bayswater 70% of cage members are ex-drivers.

The typical catchment for the cages appears to be mainly within the 1-3km radius of a cage, with some stations getting riders from further afield as the attraction of a Zone 1 ticket or demand prevails.

The five regional cages came online this month with Castlemaine riders leading the way.

We are working with the Department of Transport to facilitate the rollout of the further 10 cages recently announced by Minister Kosky. We believe that priority should be given to areas of demonstrated demand.

Currently this is being measured by the waiting list for the Connex lockers at stations

Ten more Parkiteer cages announced, total of 33

11 Jan 2009. Ten more Parkiteer cages are being added to the Victorian transport system, Transport Minister, Lynne Kosky announced today.

The new cages join the 18 already built in metropolitan Melbourne and five in country Victoria.

Eltham is first cage completed

October 2008
The Bike Parking Cage at Eltham Station will be arriving soon. Click on 'Email me updates' above to be kept up to date.

The department has appointed Bicycle Victoria to manage the Eltham Cage. As part of this service we will be managing the registration process and providing user support.

You can apply to become an Eltham Parkiteer soon.

 

Eltham station is the first proud owner of one of these cages, which can accommodate 26 bikes securely and undercover for free.

Bicycle Victoria wants to make it easy for you to integrate with the public transport by bike. That’s why we are working with the Department of Transport to get 20 free, undercover bike parking cages on several stations across Victoria. We want to see more of these across the network in future.

As a cage member these cages will allow you to park your bike undercover, secure and for free at one of the participating stations.

At this point it hasn’t been finalised where all of the 20 cages will be located. In coming days we will provide a process for you to register your desire to get a cage installed at your preferred station. Click on 'Email me updates' above to be kept up to date.