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Cycle Parking and Motorcycle Parking Standards

1. Introduction

1. The local authorities aim to ensure adequate cycle parking and facilities for cyclists and motorcyclists in all types of new development.

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.

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.

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

   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

   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.

   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. The associated reference list and, in particular, guidance published by the Institute of Highways and Transport (Reference 6).

   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

   5. This applies to longer stays of six hours or more, particularly associated with residential overnight use or employment locations.

   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.

   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.

   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.

   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.

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