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Union Station in Washington, DC, is showing off a shiny new Bike Transit Center that offers secure bike parking for 150 cycles, plus a changing room, lockers, bike rentals, and a repair shop for commuters. Access to the center costs $1 per day or a yearly membership fee of $100, which includes round-the-clock entry. The facility will be the first of its kind on the East Coast, part of an effort to encourage eco-friendly commuting with the promise of added security for bicycles. Eighty-percent of the funding for the $4-million bike center came from the US Department of Transportation, with additional funds from the DDOT. Are we noticing a trend in forward-thinking civic design? More pics after the jump.
Donald C. Paine Jr. of KPG Design Studio conceived of the glass structure, which is shaped like half of a football.
Fun fact: The Architect’s Newspaper reports that the DC region “has some of the nation’s worst traffic — but according to the latest American Community Survey, it also has the sixth highest rate of bicycle commuting, with some 87,500 people relying on bikes as their primary means of transportation.” 150 spaces for 87,500 commuters isn’t a lot by our count (Amsterdam’s central station fits 2500), but hopefully KPG’s design will serve as an inspiration for future of bike garages.
Especially considering a Kryptonite lock costs upwards of $70 in New York City.
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11 Responses
yes, I love bikes, but…$4 MILLION?
Of course Chicago has had one of these for 5 years. It fits 2 times as many bikes and also includes a bike police station, bike repair, showers, restrooms, and lockers for about the same cost. The architecture is pretty cool too if I do say so myself.
[...] This structure was put in DC for bike commuters. A place to lock up your bike, shower and change all in one!! For the price of 1 dollar for a day or $100 for a year membership it’s really a great facility for bike commuters. [...]
15 Awesome Bike Parking videos from all over the world: http://www.streetfilms.org/feature-1/
The place is Union Station, we don’t have a Union Square in DC (It’s our train station)
It’s Union Station, not Union Square.
[...] Check out the eco-friendly building here [...]
Assuming the city donated the land, does anyone else think that $4 million is a bit much for 150 bikes? I think it’s pretty good that DC is #6 in the nation, especially considering it is the worst place to bike in the history of worst places to bike! I felt safer riding in Lima and Amman than I do in DC. No joke. And MD and NOVA are even WORSE! Must be all the lobbyists.
I’m from NYC and I wish there was something like this here but the thing is there really isn’t much space for it. Even with redone pedestrian and bike-friendly areas (http://bit.ly/2UKnOh), it’s just not very feasible.
It does seem like overkill for a glorified shed though, right? I’m all for innovative architecture but $4MM? Yow! Also, the only people I’ve ever seen on bicycles in D.C. are tourists. Couldn’t that have been spent on encouraging sustainable transport that people will actually utilize?
I guess that’s what you get from a 2nd tier city with an artificial Chinatown and stunted building heights.
:-\
[...] “Union Station in Washington, DC, is showing off a shiny new Bike Transit Center that offers secure bike parking for 150 cycles, plus a changing room, lockers, bike rentals, and a repair shop for commuters. Access to the center costs $1 per day or a yearly membership fee of $100, which includes round-the-clock entry…” (flavorwire) [...]
[...] [via Flavorwire] [...]