Bike Parking Racks & Rack Placement

[americancyclo]

Did you try emailing WABA? waba@waba.org will do it I think.

[chris_s]

Bicycle Parking Guidelines by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals seems to be the reference that everyone cites. The 2nd Edition seems to only be available for sale, but the first edition appears to be downloadable for free and address all the essentials.

Publication Homepage
Free 1st Edition PDF

[rcannon100]

@chris_s 9352 wrote:

Bicycle Parking Guidelines by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals seems to be the reference that everyone cites. The 2nd Edition seems to only be available for sale, but the first edition appears to be downloadable for free and address all the essentials.

Publication Homepage
Free 1st Edition PDF

Um….. SWEEET! That is a home run. Thank you.

Is there anything else? This seems like exactly the thing I am looking for; a professional standard OSHA like recommendation thing.

SWEET. Thank you.

[PrintError]

I worked with our company’s facilities support to provide “wheel bender” racks to most – if not all – of our buildings. The “swoopy-U” racks are nice in theory, but a good wind blows the bikes right over.

That said, I managed to get most of the racks placed in parking garages to allow for out-of-the-weather parking. This has greatly reduced the amount of maintenance I’ve had to do on my bikes, and I’m thankful for it.

The main reason I went with the “wheel bender” racks is that they will hold up to 18 bikes, where the “swoopy-U” ones only “hold” a handful in the same space. I use hold lightly, because I’ve seen the bikes plop over all too often.

[Greenbelt]

We got a new wheel bender rack in our garage — very nice. I used Bike to Work day as an example to explain that while the current rack was usually sufficient (though usually pretty full), they didn’t have any surge capacity. The argument worked — the building and parking guys didn’t want people locking to random rails or bars. So we got our new rack, and now, both racks are starting to fill up some days.

Basically the more people who work through the issues of bike commuting (a safe route, a shower or bathroom large enough for cleaning up and changing, a safe place to park, a place to store clean clothes or hang wet gear on rainy days etc.) more people give it a try.

Moral to the story is that special days like Bike to Work day can motivate building operations staff to make a little extra effort to avoid problems. Another side benefit of BtW day, besides bagels and AAA logo water bottles.

[DaveK]

@chris_s 9352 wrote:

Bicycle Parking Guidelines by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals seems to be the reference that everyone cites. The 2nd Edition seems to only be available for sale, but the first edition appears to be downloadable for free and address all the essentials.

Publication Homepage
Free 1st Edition PDF

This is the industry standard, I don’t know of anything else that comes close. The 2nd Edition is over 80 pages long and much more specific than the 1st Edition. Unfortunately I can’t just give it out but WABA might have a copy.

[rcannon100]

Thanks to all. This has been quite helpful.

[rcannon100]

We have been successfully working with our management about getting new bike racks.

We have reviewed the APBP recommendation on racks – and I have seen lots of places requiring or using the inverted U racks.

The APBP recommendations have some general statements about the racks like “cost: low” and comments about space efficiency. The APBP is specific that wheel benders are not recommended.

So if we have successfully reached the point were wheel benders are out, but management still says “space for parking is limited, as is funding” – is there somewhere a side-by-side comparison of different rack types comparing costs, space efficiency, etc? Or to say it another way, everyone has limited space and funds, yet I see so many people go with the top choice: the Inverted U. Where is the evidence / support for that decision that the U is the right choice (again, I know its the APBP top pick, but if space and funds are limited, how do I make the argument).

Thanks

[Bruce Wright]

@rcannon100 11772 wrote:

We have been successfully working with our management about getting new bike racks.

We have reviewed the APBP recommendation on racks – and I have seen lots of places requiring or using the inverted U racks.

The APBP recommendations have some general statements about the racks like “cost: low” and comments about space efficiency. The APBP is specific that wheel benders are not recommended.

So if we have successfully reached the point were wheel benders are out, but management still says “space for parking is limited, as is funding” – is there somewhere a side-by-side comparison of different rack types comparing costs, space efficiency, etc? Or to say it another way, everyone has limited space and funds, yet I see so many people go with the top choice: the Inverted U. Where is the evidence / support for that decision that the U is the right choice (again, I know its the APBP top pick, but if space and funds are limited, how do I make the argument).

Thanks

The capacity stated for the “wheel bender” or “grill” or “school yard” racks is greatly overstated. It’s almost impossible to use a U lock. Only the wheel, often the front, is locked and the bike can easily be stolen by removing the wheel. Most people either park on the end of the rack so they can use a U lock or they park parallel to the rack, using several spaces. They are often placed against a wall so that only one side is useable, reducing the stated capacity by half.

U racks can be attached to rails and don’t take up that much more space, or cost much more, than the grill rack. There are two contact points not the bike which help to stabilize it. They grill racks are called wheel bender racks for a reason, the bike often tips over, bending the wheel.

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington has a good one-page flier called 12 Bike Parking Essentials for Retailers:

http://www.bicyclealliance.org/commute/sbbsummary.pdf

DC, Arlington, and Alexandria all use the U rack as the standard for a reason. If you visit the FABB Cyclist Resources page we’ve listed links for most of the local bike parking regulations:

http://www.fabb-bikes.org/resources.html#references

[KLizotte]

I hate the wheel bender racks because my bottom tube is at such a sharp angle (similar to a dutch bike) that I cannot position my bike up and over the rack in order to use a u-lock. I also have fenders so sticking the front wheel in doesn’t work well either. I end up parking at either end of the rack and using it like an inverted U rack; barring that, I park at any solid object I can find.

The front door to my office has both inverted U racks and a wheel bender rack. The former is always full whereas people ignore the latter until necessary.

These websites might help you:

http://www.dero.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_stand

I’ve asked my apartment building’s mmgt to install racks on our property. Am keeping my fingers crossed…

[Justin Antos]

I echo Bruce’s observation that people, realizing that they either cannot fit their bike on a wheelbender, or that it’s very difficult to use their U-lock, end up doing other things that are less desirable! They often end up parking parallel to the rack itself, blocking nearly all the spaces and mostly defeating the purpose of the rack. Or, they lock up to something else entirely – a tree, railing, signpost, etc – that might actually block egress paths and/or break fire codes.

At WMATA too, the inverted-U rack is now our gold standard, and we use APBP guidelines for placement and clearance guidelines. We figure 2 bikes per rack with proper clearance, and inverted-Us are a great way to encourage cyclists to park securely and efficiently.

Good luck!

[Arlingtonrider]

Another vote for U racks.

[rcannon100]

DC, Arlington, and Alexandria all use the U rack as the standard for a reason.

Right. I am looking for the reason. I need to be able to make a better argument than: use Inverted U’s cause, well, everyone else does. Does anyone have specific cost/capacity analysis that justifies inverted U’s over undulating or anything else (again, we had no problem killing off the wheel benders – but I have to respond to the limited space / limited funding argument).

At WMATA too, the inverted-U rack is now our gold standard

Is there an analysis from WMATA, or Arlington, or Alexandria available that does the research and makes the argument as to why this is the right choice.

Thanks

[consularrider]

Where would they be putting these racks, outside parking lot or indoor garage? Our building has three grill racks on one parking level and these are adequate for our needs. I agree that capacity for these is overstated, you can’t really put a bike in every slot. None of the three racks is secured to the pavement. One rack is located a the back of two deep parking spaces. Both sides of the rack are accessible and we don’t take away any parking space. The other two racks are located by the elevator core in areas where a car couldn’t park because of architectutal barriers. I would much rather be locking my bike to an inverted U rack since it does seem like it is much easier to knock over a bike in the grill rack.

Since the garage is under tight security control with 100% ID check, and limited to parking pass holders (for cars that is, bikes don’t need a pass), the locking issue is less relevant. We see a combination of cable locks, u-locks, and unlocked bikes and I have never heard of anyone have a bike stolen, or even had accessories removed.

[Bruce Wright]

@rcannon100 11796 wrote:

I am looking for the reason. I need to be able to make a better argument than: use Inverted U’s cause, well, everyone else does.

The APBP guidelines and those from the Draft AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Bicycle Facilities (http://design.transportation.org/Documents/DraftBikeGuideFeb2010.pdf) are the main sources of parking guidelines. While they may not be based on citable research, they are based on experience and recommendations from the bicycle community. They both list the requirements of good bike parking and both come to the same conclusion, that inverted U racks meet these requirements. That’s why everyone uses them as the standard. The other common theme is the suggested use of U locks:

APBP:
Support the bicycle upright by its frame in two places
Prevent the wheel of the bicycle from tipping over
Enable the frame and one or both wheels to be secured
Support bicycles without a diamond-shaped frame with a horizontal top tube (e.g. a mixte frame)
Allow front-in parking: a U-lock should be able to lock the front wheel and the down tube of an upright bicycle
Allow back-in parking: a U-lock should be able to lock the rear wheel and seat tube of the bicycle

and AASHTO:
Support the bicycle at two points above its center of gravity.
Accommodate high security U‐shaped bike locks.
Accommodate locks securing the frame and one or both wheels (preferably without removing the front wheel from the bicycle.)
Provide adequate distance [minimum 36 inches (0.9 m)] between spaces so that bicycles do not interfere with each other
Do not contain protruding elements or sharp edges.

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