Bike corrals have become a common feature of Portland’s streets. Looks like they could use a larger one at Ex Novo on North Flint Ave.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

From St. Johns to Lents, and all points in between, the City of Portland has 145 bike parking corrals. The groupings of blue staple racks have become a standard piece of street furniture and a symbol of Portland’s commitment to cycling.

But how often are they used? Are some overcrowded? Should they be larger? Smaller? And how does Biketown figure into the equation?

These are just some of the questions the Bureau of Transportation hopes to answer with a new, crowdsourced bike corral reporting project. Using a short online form, PBOT wants to know three basic pieces of information: How many bikes are parked at the corral, if they include Biketown bikes, and the date/time of the observation.
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The first of a new generation — and hopefully a new era of bike theft prevention.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The City of Portland just raised their game when it comes to providing people with a secure place to park a bicycle.
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New city code could require developers to build better bike parking.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Do you live in an apartment? If so, where and how do you park your bike?

The Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is refining and updating the portion of our city code that regulates bicycle parking in residential buildings and they want your input. Because this is Portland, they’ve also assembled a stakeholder advisory committee that’s grappling with code revisions that could dictate a new number of new policies such as: whether or not a fee should be charged for bike parking rooms; how high bike racks should be installed; what type of security and signage should be used in bike rooms; the quality of access routes to bike rooms, and more.
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New on-street bike corral at Pine Street Market.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Back in May we shared the sordid tale of how Portland’s newest downtown food destination, Pine Street Market, opened without any bicycle parking spaces.
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Parent volunteers helped erect two bike parking
shelters at a north Portland school on Sunday.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Did you know that you can get a few volunteers together and build a covered bike parking shelter at any Portland Public School?

We wrote about the City of Portland’s school bike shelter program back in 2012. Since then the shelters have popped up at schools all over the city. On Sunday I got the chance to help build one myself at (the newly designated) Ockley Green Middle School in north Portland. It was a fantastic way to create better bike parking at my kids’ school and spend some time with other parents.

In some ways, bike parking shelters do for schools what intersection repair projects do for neighborhoods: The thing you make together is the icing on the community-building cake.
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The new bike parking on SE Oak and 9th.
(Photo by Eric Iverson)

Our bike parking coverage is sponsored by Huntco, a Portland-based maker and seller of bike racks and other industrial furnishings.

Portlanders who bike have granted the wish of a local business.

Base Camp Brewing now has a shiny new on-street bike corral in front of its brewpub on SE Oak and has become the latest example of bikenomics and bike-oriented development in Portland.
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The Lloyd Cycle Station is open for business.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

A key piece of the decades-long vision for the Lloyd District came into focus this morning when the Lloyd Cycle Station – and its 600 secure bike parking spaces – opened to the public.

We shared the lowdown on the the Cycle Station earlier this month and today I attended the grand opening. To refresh your memory this facility is part of the Hassalo on Eighth development that has arisen on a former surface parking lot on the 700 block of NE Multnomah. There are three new buildings in this development and they all strongly encourage a low-car lifestyle among their tenants. Along with an adjacent MAX light rail line and one of Portland’s best protected bike lanes (on NE Multnomah), Hassalo residents now have their choice of 1,200 bike parking spaces. Compare that to just 328 auto parking spaces and you can see why car ownership is only optional here.
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Last Friday night the lack of bike parking at Base Camp Brewing was readily apparent.
(All photos by Ross Putnam.)

Our bike parking coverage is sponsored by Huntco.

There are two things you can never have enough of in Portland: bike parking and great beer. Especially when a friend buys the beer*.
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The valet in 2012. It’s co-funded by OHSU and the private bike shop that operates nearby.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)

One of Portland’s most unusual experiments in privately funded bike promotion keeps growing and growing.

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A new market in downtown Portland without bike parking out front? Say it ain’t so!
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Downtown Portland’s most interesting new meal spot could be described as an indoor food cart pod, or maybe a slightly upmarket food court.

But whatever you want to call Pine Street Market, one thing it’s clearly short of is bike parking.

A few weeks ago, when I met a friend there, I resorted to something I’ve never had to do since moving to Portland: locking my bike to the plumbing outside a nearby building.

This is such an odd situation in Portland, which usually excels at commercial bike parking above all else, that it’s been drawing attention:
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