Bravo to businesses with usable bike racks!



Big kudos to the City of El Cerrito for installing new, usable bike racks on the sidewalk in front of the restaurants Tashi Delek, Antojitos Guatemaltecos, and the 514 Lounge on San Pablo Avenue (south of Potrero). 

“There was a row of businesses with no nearby bicycle parking and plenty of available public space to install racks,” explains Jarrett Mullen, El Cerrito’s senior sustainable transportation planner. “We’re happy to support local businesses and hope the bike racks make it a bit easier to pop in and grab a bite.” 

A usable bike rack is one that meets minimum standards for safety, security, and accessibility. El Cerrito Strollers & Rollers will highlight commendable bike parking that meets best practices in this newsletter going forward.

There are eight parking spaces per car in the United States. Yet while bike riders are paying customers at local businesses, they rarely find secure bicycle parking when they arrive. Usable bicycle parking is not expensive overhead, especially compared with the yearly cost of maintenance, repair, and ground taxes that car parking spaces incur.

For shopfront businesses that face a sidewalk and don't have a parking lot, a usable bike rack or two on the sidewalk is a small price to pay for attracting more customers. El Cerrito Strollers & Rollers will be reaching out to local businesses in coming weeks and months to encourage them to place usable bike racks at their businesses, either by the city or the Contra Costa County 511 program. If you know of a business that would like the city to place a bike rack in front, please tell them to email Mullen at JMullen@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us.

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