Skip to main content

VIDEO: Cycle parking at the office is getting easier

Highway designers are increasingly asked to integrate cycle lanes and paths into their projects in major urban areas. And many commuting cyclists are grateful for it, too. But what happens when the cycle path ends, even if it is right outside the rider’s destination, such as his or her work place, be it an office building or factory? That last few metres are essential for completing the perfect commute. This means being able to park the bicycle in a secure environment.
September 7, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Highway designers are increasingly asked to integrate cycle lanes and paths into their projects in major urban areas.

And many commuting cyclists are grateful for it, too.

But what happens when the cycle path ends, even if it is right outside the rider’s destination, such as his or her work place, be it an office building or factory?

That last few metres are essential for completing the perfect commute. This means being able to park the bicycle in a secure environment.

Over the past decade or so, more and more businesses have been designing cycle parking on the premises, as well as installing shower and change-room facilities – even drying areas for a cyclists rain-soaked clothes.

But it’s been a struggle allowing cyclist to bring their two-wheels into the office if that is the only place to keep it safe. In some cities, such as New York, it’s mandatory for business’s and property owners to allow this.

New York City’s Bikes in Buildings programme is to aid the Bicycle Access to Office Buildings Law that aims to increase bicycle commuting by providing cyclists secure parking their bicycles in or close to their workplaces. The programme allows tenants of office buildings to request bicycle access for their employees. In response to a request, a building owner or manager must either grant access or request an exception from the New York City Department of Transportation.

The law, however, applies only to commercial office buildings with at least one freight elevator. It does not apply to residential buildings or any other building that is not primarily composed of offices.

There could also be a downside to encouraging cycle commuting. Some people just don’t know when to leave their bicycle outside, as the video below shows.

In London, one property owner has gone one wheel-turn further by designing in a cycle ramp right into the office, as this %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal BBC video Visit BBC Website false http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34154520 false false%> shows. However, the cycle ramp at the refurbished Alphabeta building it may not be a ride for the faint-hearted.

Related Content

  • Traffic jam
    July 5, 2019
    Our Skidmarks page is highly rated by readers. Your input could help make this page even more entertaining. If you come across any amusing road-related stories or pictures email me at [email protected] TRAFFIC JAM Police in the South African city of Port Elizabeth recently spotted a vehicle they suspected of being overloaded. The minibus was escorted to a police compound, where the occupants were made to get out of the vehicle. In all, the Toyota HiAce bus had been carrying 48 people, most of them childr
  • VIDEO: Car owner’s manual – chapter one, snake removal
    October 26, 2016
    Snakes can get into the darnedest places, such as your car. The issue then becomes how to get it out. The answer is, with a lot of work and care as well as an equal amount of patience, such as possessed by the man in this video shot somewhere possibly in Southeast Asia Getting a small snake out of a car is tough. Getting a large one out is practically impossible - at least extracting the reptile in one piece and alive is.
  • VIDEO: Slow down. Salmon crossing
    November 15, 2016
    Forget moose, ducks and other wildlife that cross a highway. It’s time for a new road sign - “Salmon Crossing” - as this video from the US state of Washington shows.

    It can happen when salmon are making their way from the Pacific Ocean to their spawning grounds up the same river where they were born. If the river is in flood, the fish can find themselves following the water roiling over a road.
  • Winnipeg man celebrates years of road works outside his shop
    July 1, 2016
    After more than a decade of road works and repairs outside his business, one Winnipeg, Canada, resident told World Highways that enough is enough. “I’ve got no malice towards the contractors,” Gordon Partridge told World Highways. “Contractors are simply where they are told to be. It’s the city officials. The left hand doesn‘t always know what the right hand is doing.” What he has is “ambivalence and frustration at the situation”. As the health centre owner and chiropractor explains, “there’s two seas