Vanishing bike parking

An unintended consequence of converting parking meters to pay-and-display kiosks is the loss of bike parking.

Losing 36,000 parking meters essentially means cyclists are losing 36,000 bike parking spots.

We are doing our best to advocate for more bike parking, but the City needs to hear from you, too. June marks the start of the City’s budgeting process. If you are losing bike parking from the meter removal, tell your alderman that you want bike rack replacement to be prioritized.

More cities are using pay-and-display kiosks, which means more cities are getting creative to replace lost bike parking. There are already some successful models:

Oakland, Calif.

In 2007, the City of Oakland began to convert its 5,000 parking meters to pay-and-display kiosks. The city installs 400-500 bike racks each year, but that still didn’t make up for the 5,000 lost bike parking spaces. So the East Bay Bicycle Coalition worked with the city to reach a compromise – two meters per block face (that’s four meters per block) would remain. The non-operational meters are a temporary solution, said Rob Raburn of the Bicycle Coalition, until the city has replaced the 5,000 removed meters. Raburn expects the city to replace the meters with inverted-Us in the next five years.

Sacramento, Calif.

City of Sacramento Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator Ed Cox said his office has transformed 100 former parking meters into bike racks by bolting on a ring to the meter post. He has 150 more planned.

“We took the parking meter heads off the poles,” Cox said. “And it was like...woah! What a perfect opportunity for bike parking!”

The replacement plan has jump-started the city’s bike parking program. In February it began installing its own, customized inverted-U racks. They have 25 installed and have a goal to install 100 primarily in the downtown area and streets leading into downtown.

“We’re really proud of the program,” Cox said. “It’s been a big hit.”