Bike Parking: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Bill Lindeke examines the challenges and lost potential of bike parking.

Every bicyclist knows the feeling of rolling up to a destination and finding a bad rack. Stranded and forced to make do with whatever’s around, you grudgingly lock to a pole, a fence, or (the worst case scenario) a young tree. It happens all the time, and especially at popular events, can make parking your bike into a chaotic free-for-all.

Lindeke  describes the trouble of finding bike parking as ironic, given how cheap it is compared to a car parking space ($100 versus $10,000, respectively),  before digging into a lesson in Bike Parking 101, touring the Twin Cities for examples of bike parking done well, in addition to DIY tips for overcoming the persistent lack of parking in many places around town. The final verdict of the article, however: "the future of bike parking is bright."