Bicycle Parking, Revisited...

Okay, so my mom informed me that my blogs need to be more positive and upbeat… demonstrating a bit more of a “rah rah you can do it” of an approach. In addition, my partner had some beef with my criticism of the “one bicycle rack per every 10 parking spaces rule,” as a typical bike rack holds many bikes.

So, let me clarify on the latter, and hopefully I will not too inadequately address the former. If we want bikes to be on equal footing with cars, or even promoted above the use of cars, we need to make it at least as easy, if not easier, to park a bike as it is to park a car in downtown. When I say that the one bicycle rack per every 10 parking spaces rule” is perhaps a bit stingy, I am not talking about providing a rack for ten bicycles. I am talking about even those simple U-shaped (see images on right…they can be used stand-along or stacked) bicycle racks that hold up to two bicycles, one on each side.

Let us consider the City of Portland’s bicycle parking requirements, since Portland (Oregon… my apologies to all my avid Maine readers) is, after all, THE (young hip progressive environmentalist) MECCA. For retail uses, Portland requires one bicycle parking space per 20 automobile parking space, but a retail use must provide minimum of 5 bicycle parking spaces. So, Northampton’s ratio of 1 bicycle space per 10 car spaces is actually more progressive than Portland’s, except for the fact that we don’t have a minimum requirement. So, if we were to follow Portland’s example, we could simply adopt a minimum requirement of several bike parking spaces for any retail, commercial, restaurant or multifamily residential use.

Of course, we should consider going further, really pushing the envelope and living up to our Sustainable Northampton Plan goal of developing a “comprehensive citywide bicycle system.” So, why not institute what I’ll term a “one to one” rule? A “one to one rule” would require that for every parking space you are required to provide, you are also required to provide one dedicated bike parking space. Further, we could provide additional incentives to enviro-sensitive businesses to increase their ratio of bicycle to car parking spaces. For example, an incentive might be created in which providing an additional five bicycle parking spaces allows for properties to have one less car parking space, up to some minimum number of car parking spaces.

Think the beauty of it…first parking, then bike commuting, then a bicycle rush hour… just like Amsterdam (see bike rush hour video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj8uzIYUPEQ)

All very wonky, I know….but really, WE CAN DO IT! REALLY! (that better, mom?)

For further food for thought, check out the City of Portland’s guidelines for installing bicycle racks (not all bike racks are created equal!): http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=34813&a=58409

Where are all the bicycle racks?

Since arriving in Northampton a few months ago, I've noticed that while drivers are quite friendly to bicyclists in these parts, there is almost no bicycle parking anywhere in town. Sure, you might luck out and get a spot at one of the very few racks scattered about, but more likely than not you'll be forced to strap your wheels to just about any vertical pole you can find. Meanwhile, downtown is chock-full of diagonal parking spaces on both sides of Main Street. What gives?

In stark contrast to the situation on the ground, Northampton's Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan, adopted in December 2007, has a short section on page 54 called "Design for Bicycles," which states the city's intention to "develop a comprehensive citywide bicycle system" that includes various paths and lanes, as well as "supporting services" such as "bicycle storage." I realize that this plan was adopted just 8 months ago, but really, isn't it about time for the city to take the baby step of converting a few of those Main Street parking spaces to bike parking? Is the cost of, say, converting 4 to 6 downtown parking spots to bicycle parking so exorbitant? It would certainly help tremendously in meeting the goal (Goal T-2 in the Sustainable Northampton Plan) of encouraging bicycle transit.

Meanwhile, businesses are not really asked to do their part to help promote bicycle transit. The city's zoning code (Section 350-8.11.) states, "Except in the Central Business District, bicycle racks or other provision for indoor or outdoor storage of bicycles must be provided for all uses for which the zoning requires 10 or more parking spaces."

First of all, why is it that there is an exemption in the Central Business District? Developments in the Central Business District are not exempted from providing off-street car parking, yet they are exempted from providing bicycle parking! This makes no sense, and the implicit take away lesson is that cars are more important and their use is being promoted over the use of bicycles. If anything, it should be the other way around: We should further reduce off-street car parking requirements and increase bicycle parking requirements in the Central Business District. By making it easier to park a bicycle and more difficult to park a car, we will encourage more bicycle and fewer car trips to downtown. At the same time, secure off-street bicycle parking would allow employees to bicycle commute and would allow residents to safely store their bicycles and potentially reduce the number of cars they own. Sadly, the outcome of this zoning law is clear: There is no bicycle parking in the parking lot behind Thorns, or in any of the other off-street downtown parking lots for that matter.

My second beef with this zoning provision is simply that one bicycle rack per every 10 parking spaces is downright stingy, and it means that you need to have a fairly large business to be required to provide parking for bicycles. For example, outside the downtown district, commercial businesses are required to provide 1 car parking space per 300 sf - Since one bicycle rack is required for every 10 parking spaces, a business would need to occupy 3,000 square feet to be required to have a bicycle rack. That leaves out many small businesses.

Even so, I assume that the “one bike rack per ten spaces” rule is relatively new, as even the larger businesses in town have no bike racks. This includes Liquors 44, Paradise Copies and Tiger XPress, among others. We need to address how we can bring these businesses up to code.

And of course, my favorite bicycle rack omission is at the Northampton Bicycle shop itself… But I’ll leave that story for another day…