Parking

Tom Vanderbilt wrote this fantastic article on bicycle parking in August last year. The article is a fantastic treasure trove of facts and resources on innovative parking solutions. An interesting fact - since 1990 bicycle use in Portland, Ore. has increased 150%.

Basically his argument is that more people will cycle if they have a safe and secure parking spot. Research in New York found that the majority of cars entering the city were driven by people who had a guaranteed parking spot.

End of trip amenities like showers and lockers are not discussed because his focus is more on the shorter distance trips. For a commute cycle of anything more than 2 or 3 kilometers you need a shower in this part of the world, but for many shorter commuter trips, like accessing a railway or busway station, there is little need for showers but lots of need for secure storage.

Some of the storage solutions include:
the Biceberg, an underground electronic bicycle storage solution from Spain that can store 92 bicycles with an above-ground footprint smaller than a public toilet. There are several in cities and train stations in Spain - the majority free - and they are expanding into Europe.
This video of a massive facility for 4,150 bicycles in Groningen is incredible. How you can manage to locate your bike on returning is anyones guess. David Hembrow's blog gives some more detail on the facility.



Tokyo's underground bicycle parking tower is incredible. I wonder how well it copes with bikes with bulky panniers.



Radstation in Muenster, Germany has an automatic bicycle washing machine in their parking station.