Four Steps to Obtaining Bike Parking for Your Philly House or Business

The current gold standard in Philly - bike corrals

Whelp, you go out of town for one weekend, it's apparently beautiful in Philadelphia, and you return to an inbox filled with questions about getting bike racks.

So, property owners, business owners, and residents: hark! Here be four current ways you can get, or position yourself to get, bike parking in town.

1. Install Your Own. If you're willing to procure U-racks yourself (they cost $250, maybe less, from a variety of companies), you can install them in the sidewalk by obtaining a permit from the city. Information about that here.
2. Bike Corrals. Are you a business or property owner interested in an in-street bike corral (like these)? E-mail Aaron Ritz at the Mayor's Office of Transportation & Utilities (aaron.ritz[at]phila.gov) and express your interest. Here is the application which outlines what is involved. 
3. Bike Sharing. The City is busy identifying locations for the hundreds of bike sharing stations that will be installed next year. Want in? Contact the aforementioned Aaron.
4. Special Art Bike Racks. We are part of a program with the City to install special art bike racks around town. The City is interested in property owners that might be interested in sponsoring a rack. Contact Margot Berg (Margot.Berg[at]phila.gov) if you're interested in learning more about that.

In the past several years the City has offered bike racks or bike corrals to interested property owners. None of those programs are currently happening, although we hope they return in the future. But why wait? Close proximity to bike parking or a bikeshare station is smart for your business, restaurant, apartment complex, or office building. Get ahead of the curve and get bike parking!

UPDATE 8/22/13 11:30 AM: The City of Philadelphia has debuted their bikeshare website: http://www.phila.gov/bikeshare. Go there to suggest a location for a bikeshare station or learn how your business or land can host a station.