Safe, secure, convenient bike parking is an underappreciated yet key factor in encouraging people to ride bikes. Bike Rack Map, a new website created by advocates, wants to map, rate, and review bike parking everywhere - with your help.
The Bike Rack Map website allows riders to map locations of bike parking and rate its quality. Is it obstructed? Is it easy to access? Is it wimpy? Is it secured? Is it hidden away so no one can keep an eye on it? Is there enough room for a bike with baskets, or fat tires, or fenders? Can pedestrians get around it?
Too many times, an establishment provides a rack that is difficult to lock to, or installed too close to a wall, or inadequately attached to the ground (always test a rack before you lock your precious bike to it, in case its bolts are loose and easily removed!). Bike Rack Map has a rating system whereby users can give a rack between one and five stars - five stars are of course reserved for only the most wonderful, safe, secure, easy, and protected bike parking.
The goal of the project is to create a global map of bike racks with photos, ratings, and comments so that bike riders know what is available, or not, in a location - and to gather data that can be used to advocate for better bike parking. A local analysis can show where bike parking exists and where it is needed.
Right now, the map is just getting off the ground, and most of the data riders have added is in Placer County. There are also a few places marked in the Bay Area - but clearly there are many more that need mapping. The more people add to it the more useful the information will be.
The developers have made it easy for other riders to add locations and photos and to rate the parking. The example below is of a good rack, one they would give four out of five stars:
This rack area has enough room for four bikes, with baskets. There is room all around the racks to enter and exit the space, and there are two points of contact for each bike frame to be locked to the rack. The racks are in a well-lit area near the Starbucks' entrance, where passersby can see it. This bike parking would get four stars only because it lacks a cover to protect bikes and riders from the weather.
It might be easier to find examples of low-rated bike racks, like the ones below.
Wave racks are just not good - they are designed to roll the front wheel into the rack, which means there is no contact between bike frame and the rack for the lock. Bikes with baskets must be leaned against the end of the rack in an awkward and unstable position that is difficult to lock, and this can block pedestrians. The other option, to lock your bike horizontally, would take up the entire rack, leaving no space for other bikes.
The old-school rack below has many problems - the struts are supposedly designed to hold the front wheel, but there's a reason they're called "wheel benders." In this case, you couldn't do that even if you wanted to, because the rack has been installed so close to the wall. As seen in the picture, at most this rack could hold only two bikes.
The Bike Rack Map developers also made a video showing the work they've done on the first comprehensive Northwest Las Vegas bike parking census and analysis. There they found both bike parking deserts - "oceans" of vehicle parking surrounding a couple of bike racks - and what they call "mirages." In those pockets, a quick glance at the map might show at least some bike parking, but a closer look reveals they are limited, blocked, difficult to access, or otherwise useless.
This is the average rating for bike racks in Northwest Las Vegas:
How would your city compare?
Kelley Davis, Director of the Auburn Trails Alliance, brought this effort to Streetsblog's attention. "It's become a very fun activity to go around and find and rate racks," she writes. "It's eye opening, even for the most experienced bike rider!"
"It’s an easy and fun process, and anyone can do it easily from the website or on their phone. It can be a great tool for local advocacy and grant writing."
Craig Davis, the project developer, writes that cyclists in Placer County "have had so much fun creating a comprehensive and revealing bike parking census that they call themselves the Rack Pack, Rack Hunters, and Rack Mappers. They also form [Back Rack Map]’s Placer County Advisory Council."
Bike riders everywhere are welcome to join Bike Rack Map, he says, and to become members of local BRM Advisory Councils.
