(Photo © J. Maus)
In an effort to assess the usage rates and demand for on-street bike parking, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will conduct its first ever bike parking counts this summer.
The counts will be done annually and the idea is to tally the number of bikes both in the existing on-street bike corrals and surrounding vicinity. Sarah Figliozzi, manager of PBOT’s bike parking program says, “This information will show us how the corrals are currently performing and how demand changes over the warmer season and through subsequent years.”
Other questions Figliozzi hopes to answer with the counts are; which corrals are already over capacity and which corrals are under performing, and whether or not bike corrals are successful in improving the pedestrian environment by reducing the number of bikes parked on nearby poles, gas pipes, and trees.
Figliozzi also looking for volunteers who are interested in “adopting” a corral or two over the length of the six-month count. Volunteers will go out once a week month to count the number of bikes in and around the corrals at peak hour.
If you’re interested in adopting a corral (there might also be special incentives from partnering businesses), email sarah.figliozzi@portlandoregon.gov and let her know which corral location you’d like to adopt.
Learn more about PBOT’s bike parking program here.