Cycle Parking Standards / Motorcycle Parking Standards
Advice for Developers
1. Introduction
1.1 The local authorities aim to ensure adequate cycle parking
and facilities for cyclists and motorcyclists in all types of new
development.
1.2 The space needed for motorcycle parking is less than that
for single occupancy cars. Government transport statistics show
that the ratio between motorcycle and car ownership is 1:35.
Guidance on providing for parking for motorcycle or PTW (powered
two-wheeler) users is available from motorcycle industry
groups.
1.3 The Parking Standards tables indicate the minimum number
of bicycle parking spaces required by each land use. To encourage
more cycling, the level of parking provision should fully
complement cycle access opportunities to the development. A
thorough and early examination of cyclists' needs is recommended to
help define cycle requirements.
1.4 The following guidance is intended to help developers or
their agents to provide suitable cycle parking and storage
facilities. For the first time in Hampshire, recommended cycle
provision is specified for each main land use. The standards
distinguish, where appropriate, between short-stay (mainly visitor)
cycle parking and long-stay cycle parking, as associated with
residential overnight use or employment activity.
2. General requirements for pedal cycle/motorcycle
parking
2.1 Cycle / motorcycle parking or storage facilities for all
types of development should be designed with the following key
objectives in mind. The parking area should be:
- conveniently located for the trip origin and destination.
Cycling / motorcycling activity competes better with car access
where its location is clearly more convenient than equivalent car
parking. It may also be preferable, where possible, to have small
groups of cycle parking facilities spread around a development,
rather than clustered at a central location which may prove less
convenient for some users
- easy to use, where the cycle can be secured quickly and easily
to the parking device
- secure, where the cycle parking site is overlooked by nearby
occupied developments, is situated close to well-used thoroughfares
or comes under the coverage of a local security camera system.
Sites should be located in well-lit and maintained locations,
reducing the likelihood of vandalism or theft and improving
cyclists' personal security when they park or collect their cycles.
This is crucial where the facilities are expected to be used by
children, older people or women
- covered, especially important for overnight and long-term
(all-day) parking at places of employment and at transport
interchanges.
3. Types of facility (applicable to pedal cycles only)
Short-stay provision
3.1 For periods of between a few minutes and a few hours,
parking stands may be the most appropriate facility. Whatever form
the stands take, they should aim to meet the following
objectives:
- be able to secure the frame and both wheels
- be high enough to hold the cycle upright and securely fixed,
even in high winds
- avoid damage to the cycle while attached or when being secured
· be clearly visible and in contrast with their surroundings, so
that they are more likely to be used and to help local pedestrians
with visual impairments
- have low ongoing maintenance requirements and avoid the need
for staffed management of the parking (there can be practical
difficulties with public sites, if integral locking mechanisms or
coin-operated devices are used)
- enable cycles to be readily secured using the popular 'D' locks
carried by many cyclists.
3.2 A popular choice of cycle parking stand in the UK is known
as the 'Sheffield stand' - a metal frame (often an inverted 'U'),
secured to a fixed base. This meets the objectives above, at a low
unit cost per stand. If a space of around one metre is maintained
between adjacent stands, up to two cycles can be attached to each.
With these siting arrangements, up to ten cycles can be
accommodated in a space that would otherwise accommodate one
car.
3.3 The associated reference list and, in particular, detailed
installation guidance published by the London Cycling Campaign
(
Reference
2 below) gives more advice on siting.
3.4 For new residential properties, adequate short-stay
parking security can be achieved by some form of secure ring or
loop attached at a convenient point near to the front entrance of
the property. The cycle parking standards require one such device
to be provided for each residential unit and developers are
encouraged to consider a device whose design suitably complements
the property.
Long-stay provision
3.5 This applies to longer stays of six hours or more,
particularly associated with residential overnight use or
employment locations.
3.6 Cycle parking stands are likely to prove more attractive
to cyclists in poor weather if some form of cover is added.
Protection from wind and rain can take many forms, and parking
space and other storage and shower facilities may be provided,
fully integrated into the building infrastructure of a development.
Several manufacturers supply prefabricated external shelter units,
but the local planning authority should be consulted over any
proposed separate structures of this kind.
3.7 For industrial, office, higher education and transport
interchange developments, very secure longer-term storage can also
be offered with various forms of cycle locker. Again, several types
are available from leading suppliers and manufacturers. Early in
the planning stage, it is important to consider carefully the
nature of management arrangements for 'dedicated' locker
facilities. Such devices are likely to work well in public areas
only if there are failsafe management systems that can cope with
lost keys or jammed locks. Another important consideration is the
need to avoid personal security problems. For example, accidents to
children at play, the potential attractiveness of lockers to
vagrants in town centre areas, vandalism and issues of terrorist
security (especially at transport interchanges and near military
establishments) may each pose problems that should be carefully
considered early in the planning stage.
3.8 Within residential developments, the associated cycle
parking standards provide guidance on levels of overnight cycle
storage provision for different types of residential property.
Garages adjacent to housing will often provide suitable secure
long-term security for pedal cycles, but need to conform in size to
the dimensions specified for a garage. At convenient locations,
there should be separate provision for visitors to park their
cycles, as discussed above under 'short-stay'
provision.
3.9 For flats, multi-occupancy properties and student
accommodation, long-term cycle parking provision should be
considered, either as integral to the building at ground-floor
level (and within the security of the main entrance) or as part of
a separate structure. It will be important for management
arrangements to ensure that each individual residential unit has
its own provision.