Bicycle parking--why it matters in encouraging more people to bicycle

Columbia and Springfield have had bicycle parking requirements, as part of their zoning and development codes, and recently Kansas City adopted a major, forward-looking bicycle parking requirement in its development code update.

Other Missouri cities are looking at bicycle parking as well--either to require it in certain developments, include it in commercial parking lots, or encourage more bicycle parking in other ways.

That sounds like such a boring topic--the words planning, zoning, development, code, and parking all in one sentence pretty much put you to sleep before you even get to the end of it.

So we are we interested in bicycle parking?

Slate has a great article recently that puts it all together:

Why do these measures matter? Because parking helps make commuters—a lesson long ago learned with cars. Studies in New York found that a surprisingly large percentage of vehicles coming into lower Manhattan were government employees or others who had an assured parking spot. Other studies have shown the presence of a guaranteed parking spot at home—required in new residential developments—is what turns a New Yorker into a car commuter.

On the flip side, people would be much less likely to drive into Manhattan if they knew their expensive car was likely to be stolen, vandalized, or taken away by police. And yet this is what was being asked of bicycle commuters, save those lucky few who work in a handful of buildings that provide indoor bicycle parking. Surveys have shown that the leading deterrent to potential bicycle commuters is lack of a safe, secure parking spot on the other end.