Brand New Bike Parking Guide for Developers Available

[huskerdont]

Ooh, nice. Would be ignored where I am though. They didn’t even bolt the racks to the floor because they said it would endanger the structure of the parking garage. But at least they did replace the old fence rack with a string of (unbolted!) U racks.

[KLizotte]

This is awesome.

Is it possible to reword “Artistic racks can have designs that are confusing to cyclists.” I wouldn’t say we are “confused”; just that those types of racks do not allow for easy, supported locking up. And sometimes it is not obvious that they are racks at all!

I don’t suppose Arlington County can distribute this guidebook to all developers that try to build in the county? Or else, outright ban the “unacceptable” racks?

[jrenaut]

Hopefully Arlington does it better than DC would. Here, we pass laws not to cover bike parking, but to cover someone having to write regulations to cover bike parking. Then no one writes regulations for a few years. Then they finally do, and they’re not completely terrible, but no one enforces them. Muriel Bowser gives a press conference about how great she is, and everything remains exactly the same.

[Tim Kelley]

@huskerdont 131030 wrote:

Ooh, nice. Would be ignored where I am though. They didn’t even bolt the racks to the floor because they said it would endanger the structure of the parking garage. But at least they did replace the old fence rack with a string of (unbolted!) U racks.

Where is this? Was it part of a redevelopment? If so, that type of thing can be enforced.

[Tim Kelley]

@KLizotte 131038 wrote:

I don’t suppose Arlington County can distribute this guidebook to all developers that try to build in the county? Or else, outright ban the “unacceptable” racks?

Yes, that is exactly what happens. As part of the site plan process developers must adhere to these requirements.

[huskerdont]

@Tim Kelley 131053 wrote:

Where is this? Was it part of a redevelopment? If so, that type of thing can be enforced.

No, an existing nonprofit in DC. There is a guard at the gate so it’s probably okay; I just found it humorous that they put in these unmounted mountable racks.

[mstone]

@huskerdont 131030 wrote:

Ooh, nice. Would be ignored where I am though. They didn’t even bolt the racks to the floor because they said it would endanger the structure of the parking garage.[/quote]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a garage with nothing bolted to it somewhere.

[dasgeh]

These are great. But.

Were these put out for public comment at all? Why weren’t they brought to the BAC?

And where is the accommodation for cargo bikes or other non-standard bikes?

[mstone]

@dasgeh 131063 wrote:

And where is the accommodation for cargo bikes or other non-standard bikes?

What kind of accommodation? Between the aisle width requirements, the “At least 30% of bicycle parking must be horizontal and at ground level” requirement, the ban on crappy wave racks & wheelbenders, etc., it seems pretty solid.

[PotomacCyclist]

You may want to forward a copy to the Maryland Transit Administration. They have some strange ideas about proper bike rack installation, at least at the Laurel MD MARC station.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10362[/ATTACH]

Someone installed these U racks side by side. Thus, the set of U racks can only accommodate about half of the bikes than it could with proper installation.

I filled out their online complaint form to notify them of the improper installation, but they may not pay attention to a single isolated complaint.

[Erin Potter]

@PotomacCyclist 131071 wrote:

You may want to forward a copy to the Maryland Transit Administration. They have some strange ideas about proper bike rack installation, at least at the Laurel MD MARC station.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10362[/ATTACH]

Someone installed these U racks side by side. Thus, the set of U racks can only accommodate about half of the bikes than it could with proper installation.

I filled out their online complaint form to notify them of the improper installation, but they may not pay attention to a single isolated complaint.

Oooph. That’s a new variation on the old classic of installing them right next to a wall.

[elbows]

Are there quantity-based (headcount, units, visitors, etc) minimums? If so, I missed them. Are there policy recommendations? (Like bikes must be moved every such and such, or, these spots are reserved for weekly users.) One of my bike rooms is full of bicycles hibernating for the winter and since I use my bike almost every day, I lost my spot one unfine day and cannot get another. Yet, there are decaying bikes that haven’t been ridden in decades sitting on prime real estate.

[dasgeh]

@mstone 131070 wrote:

What kind of accommodation? Between the aisle width requirements, the “At least 30% of bicycle parking must be horizontal and at ground level” requirement, the ban on crappy wave racks & wheelbenders, etc., it seems pretty solid.

A Yuba Mundo is 6′ 9″. The installation guide budgets 6′ in length for each bike. The widest bike trailers about just over 3′ wide. Again, the guide budgets 2′ for bike width.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Erin Potter 131072 wrote:

Oooph. That’s a new variation on the old classic of installing them right next to a wall.

If you can’t find a wall to make the bike racks less effective, make your own wall. That seems to be the motto at that location.

I don’t want to get too critical of the MTA though. Like WMATA, they have taken steps to make it easier to bike to and from the transit stations. The bike lockers behind the U racks are the better option at a rail station where the bikes are likely to be left there for several hours at a time. At a different MARC station I saw, there were only bike lockers, no bike racks. I actually think that’s OK for a small rail station. I don’t know if many people would be willing to leave their bikes locked up to a rack all day at an isolated location.

There are still improvements to be made with better bike routes to some transit stations in the region, but the transit agencies don’t always control that land. They would have to coordinate with local jurisdictions and sometimes with private property owners to improve bike access to those stations.

[Tim Kelley]

@elbows 131073 wrote:

Are there quantity-based (headcount, units, visitors, etc) minimums? If so, I missed them. Are there policy recommendations? (Like bikes must be moved every such and such, or, these spots are reserved for weekly users.) One of my bike rooms is full of bicycles hibernating for the winter and since I use my bike almost every day, I lost my spot one unfine day and cannot get another. Yet, there are decaying bikes that haven’t been ridden in decades sitting on prime real estate.

You should talk to your building’s property management about that. If there are bikes that haven’t been moved in decades, put your building in touch with Bikes for the World or Phoenix Bikes who would be happy to take them off their hands.

[Author]

Posts