Building Electrification Resources
Secure Bike Parking Facilities
Theft is one of the highest concerns for ebike owners. See Security - Don't lose that new bike for tips on getting the best lock and other theft-proofing for your bike. This page outlines many options for facilities to add secure parking to our city streets. Many of these options could be useful for the individual homeowner as well.
​
Cities governments and businesses can greatly reduce the risk of theft by providing secure parking areas anywhere riders will need to leave their bikes for extended periods such as retail areas, schools, and transit stations. It also can be critical in residential areas where riders may live in multi-family buildings where indoor space is limited and stairs may make bringing a heavy ebike indoors difficult even if there is room.
​
.jpg)
There is a strong argument for dedicating street curb space or other public right of way to dedicated parking (Transportation Alternatives in New York City made a compelling case for bike parking) . Bikes are very space efficient. Five to ten bikes can be parked in the area required to park a single car. Some companies, such as bike rack manufacturer Saris, are making ebike charging racks for street or bike room use that can safely and securely hold and provide power to a user's ebike charger.
There are many approaches to secure parking beyond the basic U rack.
​
Self locking racks
Proper locking of a bike to a basic rack through both wheels and the frame can be challenging. It requires hauling one or more heavy locks and a cable and using proper technique. Self locking bike racks can help solve these challenges. Automated versions use a phone app to lock and unlock and show available racks.
Bikeep (California, USA & Estonia) racks with ebike charging & surveillance monitoring.
CycleSCP (California, USA)
Streebl (Bulgaria)
Lockers
Even when well locked, racks leave a bike open to the weather and susceptible to loss of lights, baskets and other parts. Lockers sized for a single bike give complete protection to the entire bike. Lockers typically have secure access with a card, pin code, or phone app.
Bike Link (California USA) installs and operates lockers and indoor group lockup facilities for 3-5 cents/hour in locations around the US including California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada, Illinois and Vermont.
Bikeep (California, USA & Estonia) installs and operated lockers with ebike charging and app or contactless RFID/NFC card access & solar power and management systems.
CycleSafe (Michigan USA) manufactures lockers with bluetooth phone app access and includes lockers to fit cargo bikes up to 87" length.
Cyclehoop (London UK) manufactures lockers and cages.
​
Bike Rooms, Cages & Kiosks
Larger group parking facilities for multiple bikes accommodate a wider range of bike sizes in a small space. This includes bike storage rooms in a building with racks and a secure access door to outdoor standalone cages and kiosks. These facilities may also provide more services, such as repair tools and ebike charging.
DuoGard (Michigan, USA) manufactures a wide range of bike rack options, including cages with a wide variety of secure access controllers (keys, cards, pin codes)
Oonee (Brooklyn, NY) provides turnkey enclosed walk in bike parking system kiosks opened by a phone app (Streetsblog NYC)
​
Cyclehoop (London UK) manufacturers lockers and the Bikehangar cage designed to lock 6 bikes in one half of a parking space. They also build and manage Bikehangar and larger Bikehub parking rental systems.
See our Cargo & Bike Trailer Dimensions survey to better understand the range of bike sizes that should be accommodated.
​
Bike stations / Valet parking
Attended group parking facilities are the most secure and can pack a high density of bikes plus may provide additional services such as cafes, repairs and sales of parts and accessories, showers and personal lockers. Of course, their availability will be limited by the ability to staff.
BikeHub (California CA) offers staffed valet parking services in several stations of the BART and Caltrain systems.
Wikipedia lists examples of bike stations around the United States and bike stations around the world.
​
