A better way to store bikes

April 25, 6:57 PMSF Bicycle Transportation ExaminerBen Marks

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A Rac Arc installed outside Facebook in Palo Alto.

Cycling for commuting and running local errands has increased, bringing more and more bicycles into urban environments. Not surprisingly, this has generated a lot of interest in how all those bikes will be stored and secured. I posted about this last August, but the other day I noticed a solution that I should have included. It's called the Bike Arc and it's the brainchild of Palo Alto architect Joseph Bellomo and Jeff Selzer, who manages Palo Alto Bicycles and the Bike Station at Caltrain's Palo Alto stop.

I like the idea of the Rac Arcs and Half Arcs a lot. Consider the image to the right. In about the same amount of sidewalk space as two bikes attached to a traditional rack, a Rac Arc stores three bikes. And, as shown here, a Rac Arc can make use of unused space, in this case the space between the tree and the sidewalk. In addition, the bikes on the Rac Arc do not spill into the sidewalk, as they would if locked to a traditional bike rack, so the amount of usable sidewalk that they occupy is even less. Crown the Arc with a crescent roof, and you have a functional storage solution that is also attractive. Nice!