by Worldchanging Portland blogger, Ethan Timm

Portland is rolling out onstreet bike parking to accommodate the myriad of cyclists who need a place to stash their bikes while they work, shop, and plot to change the world.

According to the BTA (Bicycle Transportation Alliance),

The concept is that on-street car parking is removed in order to provide convenient and visible bicycle parking. It’s great for bicyclists because the number of spaces is greatly increased; it’s great for pedestrians because there are less bikes on the sidewalk; it’s great for businesses because more people can park in the limited space, so more people can eat, drink, and enjoy the main street.

Hawthorne Blvd will be the beneficiary some high design Bike Oasis designed by Browning Shono of Portland. Jonathan Maus at BikePortland.org reports that

Four of these cool, covered bike racks will be installed on curb extensions along Hawthorne Blvd. and will be a welcomed addition to PDOT’s bike parking tool kit.

With the recently installed bike parking facility in North Portland, I hope we’re seeing the start of a real bike parking trend (it’s about time!).

This is great! I wonder how many bikes can fit in the space devoted to a single car.

Posted by: James on December 16, 2006 8:30 PM

Usually about 12 bikes can fit where a car can; some parking spaces are larger or smaller than average.

Posted by: Evan Manvel, BTA on December 18, 2006 10:20 AM

Bicycle parking is a business in Beijing. Pictures on flickr.com show these parking lots and some very orderly parking elsewhere too.

Posted by: Aleksi on December 18, 2006 4:00 PM

Over in London this fall, The University of the Arts had a design competition to Redesign the Bike Shed. I wrote about it last month at http://bicycle-diaries.blogspot.com/2006/10/design-crime-and-cycling-in-city.html

I wonder if a similar competition could be held here in Chicago.

Da' Square Wheelman

Posted by: Garth Katner on December 21, 2006 11:04 AM