Archive for August 3rd, 2011

Bicycle Parking Census at Metrorail Stations

August 3rd, 2011 1 comment

Bicycle access is a key long-term access strategy to Metro’s services, and we are currently trying to triple the number of bicyclists accessing our network by 2020.  As we develop plans for capital investment in bicycle and pedestrian facilities, we need good data on bicycle parking demand to tailor new facilities to each station.  Our most recent bike parking counts were from 2006-2007, but a lot has happened since then.

So, taking a cue from from trail count data, we counted bikes and racks at rail stations over a six-week window of peak usage from May 1 to June 15 for a “bike parking census.”  Each station was counted on a sunny, warm day typically between 9:30am and 3:00pm. We wanted to learn about the general availability of and demand for bike parking in station areas. For these counts, we specifically excluded bike lockers and the Union Station Bikestation, and focused just on racks. We wanted to know how easy it would be for a new bike-to-rail customer to easily find bike parking near a station.  We counted each U-Rack as space for 2 bikes, and used our best judgment for wave, grid, post-and-ring, and other racks.

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Categories: Planning Studies Tags: , ,