On Street Bike Parking

Yesterday, I posted two videos about indoor bicycle parking facilities: one in Amsterdam, and one in Phoenix, AZ. Large, indoor bicycle parking facilities are really useful in locations that serve as a hub of sorts. These types of parking facilities are often located close to train stations, bus stations, light rails, etc. and allow people to easily commute into central business districts, downtown areas, etc. Or conversely, the bicycle parking facility might be located within the central business district, but the point is, that these large structures are usually built for more long-term parking (ie. the length of a workday) and are built to house a large number of bicycles.However, in places where short-term parking is required, such large facilities may not be as convenient or as efficient. On-street parking is a common form of short-term bicycle parking, and it often presents itself in the form of U-shaped bike racks cemented into the sidewalk, which are designed to hold between 2 to 8(ish) bikes per rack, depending on the design. These types of racks are fine in areas with low bike use, but in areas with high bike use, parking can become difficult to find or even overflow into the pedestrian zones on the sidewalk or into the car zones on the street.This morning’s video shows one version of on-street bicycle parking, whereby the City of Portland converted 1.5 car parking spaces into bike parking spaces in one high use, but mostly likely short-term, parking area. The result is cleaner sidewalks, plenty of bike parking, and a very nice piece of cycling infrastructure.What is the bike parking like where you ride? Let us know and even send us some photos!

Post navigation