mlts22 

Following the adage, "if you built it, they will come", what should cities build for commuter facilities to encourage bicycle commuting?

I'm meaning real facilities, not just chucking a high-density bike rack near the corner of a courthouse.

One example, but not seen in the US: Rentable bike lockers in a number of places in downtown parts of a city. Even if it requires a background check (to assure the city government that its going to store a bike, not contraband), this might help get people to commute.

Another example would be a "bike and bus" system. Near a major bus stop to downtown, have a number of lockers and bike racks available, so people can ride their bikes to a major stop, hop the bus.

Perhaps another would be vending machines with basic items in it, from the usual sizes of tubes and tires, to basic toolkits.

EnigManiac

Chicago came up with what I consider to be an integral component of bicycling infrastructure in their Millenium Bike Station (now the McDonald Bike Station, I believe) where the facility, located in the downtown business core, offers secure, safe and enclosed bike locking/parking, change-rooms, showers, lockers and a cafe. The last time I checked their rates were exceptionally affordable at about $10.00 per month. Installing such a facility at key locations throughout any major metropolis and combining them with a comprehensive network of lanes would, in my estimation, encourage more people to consider cycling as a viable commuting option.

Bekologist

do you mean non-transportational, non-riding infrastructure?

Cities could add a lot of bike racks for starters. secure parking that isn't limited to a paltry number of bike spaces would also be good. Every bus should have a bike rack, ever transit train places for bikes.

Signage regarding bikes are transportation, a public awareness campaign, signs on buses, billboards, etc.

tax credits for bicycling. incentives for bicycling. free doughnuts on occasion. monthly rides with the mayor leading the charge.

Bruce Rosar

You might want to have a look at the Cycling Improvements and Bike/Transit Integration sections of the TDM Encyclopedia.

sggoodri

I've been somewhat surprised at how popular the bike racks on buses have become in my area. We didn't have those when I was taking the bus in college; I had to choose between bike and bus at the beginning of the day. The combination provided with the rack seems to allow the best of both as the cyclist sees fit.

I think a business card with the names of a bunch of taxi companies willing to transport cyclists with their bikes, potentially combined with a coupon, would be nice. Sometimes my bike would break down, or I would get caught out without a working headlamp, or the weather would turn really ugly, and I would be happy to pay for a taxi if I could find one willing to give me an affordable ride in a timely manner.

rhm

Bike lockers are wonderful; I have one at a New Jersey Transit station. It costs me $7.50 / month. But any kind of good, safe, bike parking would be fine. All train stations should have good bike parking facilities.
Lockers are, of course, a security risk. A better solution would be bicycle parking garages, which I've seen in Holland.
Also important is to give bicyclists access to all the roads and bridges they need to get from point A to point B. Anyplace where there is a bridge that isn't open to cyclists, there should be a second bridge dedicated to them.

genec

One of the nicest situations I ever had when bike commuting was bike lockers. The other nice thing were readily available showers. Both were supplied by the employer. There was a short waitlist for the bike lockers, and you were required to commute at least 3 days a week, every week.

The next thing that has made commuting nice was off street paths that provided shortcuts past or around dense traffic areas. These were so desirable that other bike commuters would cut through local canyons making their own paths. These were readily discussed on the rec.bike email group within the company. Several commuters expressed from time to time their discomfort with riding on the nearby 45MPH major arterials, but had no problems taking the off road tracks. Good paths connecting neighborhoods are desirable. In other words, people would ride if they felt there was a safe way to get there.

Bike lanes on the other hand tend to not help all that much.

Support from fellow employees was also nice... such as that rec.bike mail list. The company also readily supported Bike to Work day and other local bike events... very encouraging.

sbhikes

We have a bike station. I don't know anything about it, or even if it's open yet. It's new. Looks like a good idea but it will serve only people who work down town. It provides a secure room with stacked bicycle racks and showers.

I currently use a bikeway on my way to work. Before I took the bikeway I saw a lot of bike commuters in my town, but now I can say I have never seen so many bicycle commuters. The bikeway is a connection between Santa Barbara and the University and is somewhere around 10 miles long or so. It serves as a freeway for bikes. There is no easier or quicker way to get to the university. As the bikeway goes along it has few intersections with streets and it passes by several other major business areas so I am able to use it to go to my job as well.

Whenever I tell people about where my job is, the first thing they ask is if I'm able to use the bike path to get to work. A lot of people have the dream of being able to use the bike path to get to work, and now I'm livin' the dream!

sauerwald

Bike lockers are nice, but if my city were to do two things that would make my life as a commuter easier it would be:

1) Strict enforcement of traffic laws. Wouldn't have to cost anything either as I'll bet any costs that they incur could be covered by the tickets that they write.

2) Better road maintenence: Clear the debris from the sides of the roads, fill potholes, make trafic light sensors sensitive enough to sense my bike etc.

Before you start trying to do something new, do what you are supposedly already doing!

Scot_Gore

I think this is pretty much what you describe, Downtown lockers and suburban lockers at bus stops, right smack dab in the middle of the US
https://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/downtown.pdf
https://www.metrotransit.org/serviceInfo/bikeLockers.asp

Another program we have is:
https://www.metrotransit.org/riderPrograms/grh.asp
Guranteed Ride Home. They'll pick up a cab ride home 4 times a year. What's appealing to the bike commuter is that when the bike breaks mid commute in the rain. It gives them an out beyond "phone a friend".

noisebeam

In addtion to lockers - Showers. I would not cycle commute here in the summer if I didn't have a shower available.

Al

rando

one more vote for showers and lockers. that would be useful to me.

bigpedaler

maybe i'm just a lone voice crying in the wilderness here, but with all the current talk about the environment, global warming, going 'green', and conserving/recycling resources, a sudden splurge of shower facilities seems a bit self-serving. use some stinkin' handi-wipes! the idea -- from these suit-wearing upwardly-mobile clones -- that perfct hygiene at all times is a requirement to live is just plain silly. our lives, our world, our very bodies, are awash in bacteria all the time. bacteria are necessary for life itself --they are God's recyclers! it's all part of how this ecosystem works.

it's time to GET OVER the hyper-hygienic madness.

genec

What is the difference between taking a shower at home or at work? It is not as if I take twice the showers because I bike commute. I use a work shower vice home shower.

The need for resources does not increase, just the location of the resources.

Bekologist

With all the evidence of massive climate change due to the industrial revolution and american's gluttonous waste of resources, It's APPALLING american road infrastructure is still being weighted so heavily towards cars as the dominant mode of transportation.

Imagine, if on every multi laned road, one entire travel lane became a bike lane.

I think a MASSIVE increase of road-integrated infrastructure would also encourage bicycling. Portland has done it. Victoria, BC, Bogota, Brussels, Berlin, Copenhagen, Delft, cities all over the world have increased bicycling thru the use of bike specific infrastructure. the evidence is irrefutable.


But we americans are still sucking the tailpipe of the big three and paying blood money for the lions' share of petrol.

noisebeam

Tempe, AZ bikestation to open spring 2008 (with, gasp, showers):

https://www.tempe.gov/greenprograms/pdfs/Bikestation.pdf

Al

rando

That's cool for those who work downtown! good stuff.

Brian Ratliff

Yea... well, for some of us, smelling nice and fresh is a job requirement. Myself, I don't need to be all that groomed, but I do need to look professional (I am an engineer). I am too green yet to get to be that person in the Hawaiian shirt and sandels and be respected for my engineering skills alone. I'm working on it though.

GreenGrasshoppr

I'd like a covered bike path network around and through the city, also designed so that during winter, snow does not accumulate on the surface.

Also, make it wide enough to accomodate the other people who will feel compelled to use it too (pedestrians, rollerbladers, etc.)

/what?

sggoodri

I myself do take one extra shower per day when I bike commute: when I return home.

My wife demands this. There is no avoiding it.

Brian Ratliff

Yea, me too.

EnigManiac

I play a lot of poker and one of the regular poker players I play with seems not to know anything about hygiene or deodorant. If you heard what everyone says behind his back you'd not want to be him, so I'll take an extra shower or two after my rides, thanks. They don't have to be long showers that waste water needlessly and they can be taken with water-reducing heads as well, after all.

The Human Car

One of the things we are trying to push on Bike to Work Day is the Guaranteed Ride Home program where those who don’t bike to work (assumed because of the distance) can also participate by offering a ride home to those who do bike in, this option helps a lot of people take the plunge in trying bike commuting.

sbhikes

I try to avoid the showers because I just don't feel comfortable getting naked around coworkers. So I just try to ride slow enough to not get dripping with sweat and wear my street clothes. Fortunately it's almost always cold outside when I ride.

If it's hot or my clothes don't lend well to riding a bike, I'll bring my street clothes and try to hide my cycling clothes in my cube, hopefully I can get them to dry out. Wet cycling clothes at the end of the day suck.

I find I get smelly from stress more than from exercise. And I kill the germs under my arms with alcohol before I use deodrant to keep the bacteria down.

So for me, the showers are a wash (ha ha) but I do appreciate the big handicapped stall in the restroom for changing.

chipcom 

Someday you might even get to wear a ChipcomMan outfit, including cape and tights, like me.