Comments on: The decline of the bicycle messenger industry? http://austinontwowheels.org/2009/09/16/the-decline-of-the-bicycle-messenger-industry/ The Online Magazine of Austin Cycling Culture Tue, 15 May 2012 00:59:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: josh http://austinontwowheels.org/2009/09/16/the-decline-of-the-bicycle-messenger-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-4716 josh Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:21:08 +0000 http://austinontwowheels.org/?p=7410#comment-4716 the austin messenger business operate on a much smaller scale, but the same things are happening here. both the federal and travis county courts went to mandatory e-filing systems in the last two years, and i expect it's a matter of time before the various state court houses do as well. the number of messengers on the streets of austin is declining (i'm one of the retired ones...), lately when one person steps aside there just isn't quite enough work to replace them with another full time courier. the legal side of the business is on it's way out, but while i was working downtown i saw food delivery start to blow up. while it's not at all the same as hustling stacks of legal docs cross town against ridiculous deadlines, it is still nice to see other businesses get wise to fact that they can move their products to the customer much faster on a bicycle than in a car, even out of the downtown area. the austin messenger business operate on a much smaller scale, but the same things are happening here. both the federal and travis county courts went to mandatory e-filing systems in the last two years, and i expect it’s a matter of time before the various state court houses do as well. the number of messengers on the streets of austin is declining (i’m one of the retired ones…), lately when one person steps aside there just isn’t quite enough work to replace them with another full time courier.

the legal side of the business is on it’s way out, but while i was working downtown i saw food delivery start to blow up. while it’s not at all the same as hustling stacks of legal docs cross town against ridiculous deadlines, it is still nice to see other businesses get wise to fact that they can move their products to the customer much faster on a bicycle than in a car, even out of the downtown area.

]]> By: JasonATXBS http://austinontwowheels.org/2009/09/16/the-decline-of-the-bicycle-messenger-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-4707 JasonATXBS Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:18:31 +0000 http://austinontwowheels.org/?p=7410#comment-4707 From the sound of things the locals' favorite coffee shop/hangout is not long for this world: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2009/09/15/little_city_coffee_shop_may_be.html Hopefully that doesn't reflect on the local messenger industry as a whole and just means they'll have to find a new perch from which to judge regular cyclists as they pass. From the sound of things the locals’ favorite coffee shop/hangout is not long for this world: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2009/09/15/little_city_coffee_shop_may_be.html

Hopefully that doesn’t reflect on the local messenger industry as a whole and just means they’ll have to find a new perch from which to judge regular cyclists as they pass.

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