Overused bike racks at Harvard?
Citizen Smith ponders a "Temporary Bike Rack 2 Hour Limit" sign at a Harvard building:
... Is there some sort of crazy bike parking going on where bikes are just piling up all over the place and people are leaving them there for days, weeks, months? If this is the case, which I don't think it is, because I've been walking by this for 4 years, and I assure you I would have noticed this rampant abuse of bike parking, but if it is the case, have you considered adding to the 2 small bike lock up bars that are there? Because there's plenty of room here. You could get two more racks in, easy. ...
Sometimes
At the Harvard office where I work, there was a memo that the bike rack was going to be temporarily moved, noting that one bike had been there for (at least) weeks without having been claimed, and asking if someone could remove it or notify the owner.
Bike Rack Street Sweeping
When I was at MIT, the facilities folks used to announce the dates of rack cleaning well in advance. It was generally just after the end of a semester. They would post warnings and get the word out by e-mail and put it in the tech, etc., and then they would remove any bikes that were still there - generally one-wheeled abandoned stuff - on the appointed day and time.
Maybe Harvard needs to do this on a rotating basis?
Harvard already
Harvard already removes all bikes around Commencement, with signs posted on bike rakes that they're about to.