[M II A II R II K]

The Subconscious Power of Bicycle Parking

https://medium.com/@liamdmoroney/the...ng-c1a94d0365e

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- In 2004, Portland, Oregon, launched an ambitious project to increase the availability of bicycle parking in the city. One of the initiatives was the building of bike ‘corrals’ exclusive bike parking facilities that would house 10–20 bikes each. Located on the street, these facilities could increase the bike parking on a block by up to 800%. However, every corral built would involve reallocating 1–2 car spaces, and so there were big questions about the potential impact on local businesses. --- There is a common belief that in dense commercial areas, most customers are motorists. By reducing available on-street parking in Portland, it was feared that motorists would choose to take their business to locations where there was free or more readily available parking. Little data was available to the City of Portland to dispute this, and so they decided to run a study as they rolled out the program. Data was collected through surveys from 248 businesses located within a half-block of locations where the initial 40 bike corrals were installed.

Despite all of the initial concerns, the results turned out to be almost entirely positive. Of those businesses close to the corrals:

• 67% saw an increase in foot and bike traffic

• Cyclists represented 24.8% of the total client base

• 53% reported that it increased the visibility of their business

- What’s more, every single business saw an increase in customers who were cyclists as a result of the installation. Sometimes, as it turned out, if you build it they do come. For Portland, it actually began to give businesses an advantage to have a corral nearby. The demand for bike corrals began to rise rapidly, outpacing the city’s ability to install them. By 2013, they had built 100 corrals 1,644 bike parking spaces. Today there are 158. --- Most of Portland’s bicycle parking is still provided by bike racks on the sidewalk. But as the city continues to grow its cycling population, the demand for effective bike parking increases with it. Once a controversial proposal, bike corrals are now requested by businesses as a desirable solution. --- When it comes to cycling, psychology plays a crucial role. When placing large investments into building a bike-friendly city, Portland learned from surveys that there was a major hurdle around the perception of safety.

- Survey after survey told them the same thing, the number one reason people do not ride bicycles is because of fear of being in the roadway on a bicycle. This information led to important decisions like protected bike lanes, which help to alleviate those fears by separating cyclists from the traffic itself. Bike lane design plays a big role in bringing cyclists confidently onto the road, but what role does parking play? Why did the corrals work so well in Portland compared to other forms of bike parking? --- When it comes to bike parking, visible parking facilities provide strong priming stimuli about that location. If you see a store with a dedicated bike corral instead of parking on the sidewalk, it tells your brain that this location is likely to see a higher frequency of cyclist parking, and therefore is probably a destination for cyclists. --- This is likely one reason why every business in the Portland study saw increased traffic from cyclists when a corral was installed.

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