certain businesses to have at least two bike racks available for patrons. Columbus's Department of Development has proposed a new rule that would require businesses with a large number of parking spaces to make bike racks available-- a rule that has been met, so far, with acclaim from biking and environmental advocates, and skepticism from small-business owners and associations. "Bike racks might be must for businesses" (6/29). Having lived in Columbus for almost five years and relied on my bicycle as a primary mode of transportation, I am definitely in favor of this legislation, considering some of the provisions included in the smallprint. Cyclists in Columbus have long used trees, street signs, trash cans, hand rails, benches and countless other fixed, inanimate objects to lock their bikes up while they're at class, work, a restaurant, a bar, the grocery store, et cetera. The bike to bike-rack ratio on the Ohio State University campus, for example, is easily 50-1, and so bikes are regularly chained to anything that doesn't move. The campus considers that an eyesore, and many buildings have "No Bicycle Parking" signs next to likely objects: trees, hand rails, benches and so on. The obvious solution seems to be adding more bike parking, but that requires money, and everyone is hard up for that.
I understand where small-businesses would be concerned about a law that requires bike racks, which can sometimes cost upwards of $200-$400. That cost could cripple a fledgling business. But the law doesn't seem to be directed toward start-up shops. Rather, it's written for grocery stores, department stores, restaurants and bars that offer ample car parking, and no bike parking.
It's only obvious that urban citizens will be more likely to bike somewhere that has legal bike parking than someplace that does not, and Columbus, which is one of the most progessive biking cities in the Midwest, seems poised to capitalize on that.
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