Most. Amazing. Bike parking. Ever.
Posted by: MichelleSep 25 2007, 4:42 pm
Last week a few BTA staffers went out to Hillsboro for the Open House at TeamEstrogen's new headquarters. (We drove, and I immediately regretted it – it was a beautiful day in Washington County!)
Susan Otcenas is TeamEstrogen's president (and soon-to-be BTA board member). When she decided to build a new warehouse and office space she knew she wanted it to be green all over. It has skylights with mirrors that direct the sun in all day long, and bio-swales for roof and parking lot runoff. And it has THE MOST AMAZING BIKE PARKING I'VE EVER SEEN.
First, the bike parking room is easy to enter – you just roll right in the back door. Then there are about 22 hanging racks on two walls (very pretty, rubberized hooks attached to plywood), with one extra-tall hook for a tandem or a recumbent.
There are about 20 full height clothes cubbies in the center, made out of strong wire mesh so that everything dries quickly. Each cubby has hangers, a little basket for little stuff, space on the floor, and space above it.
At one end of the cubbies is a lovely wooden bench for putting on shoes.
And there are two showers across from the bench – one for the women, and one for the single male employee at Team Estrogen (do the women ever use it illicitly? I didn't ask).
I am often asked by Bike Commute Challenge coordinators what they can do at their workplace to increase bike ridership, and what common denominator I see among winning companies. It is definitely, without a doubt, high quality bike parking. Bike parking that is secure, dry, covered, and with places to store clothes and rain gear. Showers are a big plus.
Sure, there are places where people ride bikes and then park them outside, in the rain, vulnerable to thiefs. But not many with high rates of bike ridership.
Companies that are serious about encouraging bike commuting, this is my message to you: get thee some bike parking!
Might be a chicken and egg thing too, though. If your employer already is supportive of bike parking, they are more likely to install parking…along with cutting you some slack on professional wear, letting you drape your wet gear everywhere, understanding when you get a flat, etc. etc….
Powell's has bike parking nearly this good at their large warehouse in NW, with showers, indoor vertical bike hangers, a place to put stuff, etc.
Know what that picture on top reminds me of?
The old bike parking at the BTA offices! C'mon guys. Bring it back. I loved walking into that office and seeing all those bikes. Sure it took up space and it was a pain to lift them up and some of your bikes are kinda janky and dirty (not naming any names, here), but it made a strong statement about what the BTA does: helping to make bicycling a commonplace, accepted, fun, and safe activity.
More bikes IN the BTA office! Now!
(I renewed my membership. I have a license to gripe about silly issues.)
Carl, I will have you know that my bike was the jankiest AND the dirtiest, and I have since left the BTA. I figured I was making them look bad, so I had to leave…
Michelle's shown me their sweet indoor parking in the garage, though, and I know they love it, so you'll have hard sell. Besides, with 19 staff, the bike parking would take up a quarter of the office!