Bike Friendly Richardson

One of the biggest problems with biking around town is the lack of bike parking. We had discussed the need for visible bike parking at local events, but there’s also need for more parking at many of the city’s rider destinations.

Looking at the current state of bike usage around town, one might think there isn’t much need for bike racks. They might not appear to be a justifiable expense for the city and most real estate developers.

We would like people to view it from a different perspective.

Sure, there’s the initial expense of putting up these racks. Sure, these racks may start off mostly unoccupied. However, if you build them in highly visible places and you inspire more people to ride, they will get filled.

A great example of local, proactive, bike friendly efforts is the new Blue Cross Blue Shield campus in Richardson. BFR friend, Dave Carter, had mentioned to us that they offered plenty of bike parking that was within walking distance of Galatyn Park. We took a ride to check it out and found 20 full sized racks on the south side of their parking garage. There is obviously no immediate need for so much bike parking, but they took the initiative and built them to help inspire and grow the bike community.

Our only criticism is that they are a little hard to find. It’s hard to inspire folks to ride their bikes when the racks are tucked away and out of site. Perhaps some nice Bike Parking signage would help.

EDIT: Post was updated to clarify our perspective. See comments below.