One barrier facing folks who’d like to bicycle more for everyday transportation is a lack of secure bike parking. Our friends at the Marin County Bicycle Coalition recently issued bike parking report cards for their local city halls, because “if there is one place where a city or town can demonstrate its commitment to bike access, it’s the seat of local government!” This inspired us to do the same.
Criteria we considered in issuing our grades:
- Number of racks. Are there enough, compared to the amount of vehicle parking?
- Location. Is the bike parking visible and close to the entrance? Is it installed with the proper clearance from walls, poles, trees, etc?
- Type of rack. The only rack we recommend is the inverted U or circle. It provides two points of contact for the bike and allows you to place a U-lock through both the frame and rear wheel. They’re inexpensive, and each rack will hold two bikes of just about any shape or size. (See APBP’s Essentials of Bike Parking for more details on bike parking standards.)
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NO! |
YES! |
On to the report cards! Starting at the top:
PETALUMA gets a solid A – several U racks mounted right at the entrance to the council chambers.
Ditto for ROHNERT PARK – plus they get a special bonus for their location right on the Copeland Creek trail.
One of the things we love about downtown Cloverdale is that there are bike racks on almost every block! While the modified wave design works a bit better than the usual wave rack, it’s still suboptimal so we’re awarding them a B.
While Santa Rosa has been going to town with new bike lanes and racks in the rest of the city, City Hall has been left behind from the parking point of view. Two wave style racks, UNDER THE STAIRS below the council chambers. Good that they’re close, but kind of hard to find if you don’t already know where they are. Substandard rack type, not enough racks for our biggest city, plus if you’re tall you bonk your head on the stairs. We give ’em a solid C.
We’ll give Sebastopol a C for effort; after all, their city hall is multilevel on a steep hill. There is a U rack that you can’t see until you are practically in the door; unfortunately it is mounted too close to the wall to park more than one bike on it. There is a wave rack in front of the library next door, and in the parking lot in the back.
Their city council doesn’t meet in city hall, but in the Sebastopol Community Center Youth Annex; there is a wave in the front.
Windsor’s hanging out with the C crowd as well. Wave rack is near the door, but is not visible from the street. Plus, you have to go up some stairs past a sign that says “no bikes allowed.” And what’s with putting it mostly in the dirt?
Another C for Healdsburg. There are two post-and-ring racks on the sidewalk, but not all bikes and/or locks work well with these. In the back parking lot area, there is a rack of a spiral type we’ve never seen before. Locations aren’t great but OK, and racks are neither the worst nor the best.
Not too long ago, we would have given Sonoma a D- for the sculpture that they call a bike rack but isn’t functional. They’ve finally installed some decent U racks in the Plaza but they’re not really visible from City Hall. Like Sebastopol, Sonoma’s council meetings are held elsewhere; the council chambers are at the police department, which has a “wave” out front. We’ll give ’em a C- for effort.
Cotati gets a D for the cobwebbed school-style rack hiding behind the landscaping next to the front door. There is a wave rack in the Police Department parking lot but it’s not in a place where one would expect it – we’ve spent a LOT of time in that complex and only just noticed it while on this “hunt”!
Our next report card project: health care facilities.
updated 10/11/2024