Following is a chart to determine the minimum area in square feet needed to accomodate short-term bicycle parking with racks placed side-by-side according to best practice. The chart uses minimum standards from the municipal code of the City of Boulder, Colorado.
| Facility type | Number of racks | Area (sf): 1 row | Area (sf): 2 rows | Area (sf): 3 rows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Every retail, commercial, office, other services, multidwelling, or community building or gathering place; essentially, any facility other than a single private residence that needs parking in general | 2 (4 bikes) | 6×7 =42 | n/a | n/a |
| Grocery, other retail, restaurant or other food/drink service, and recreation facility with 8,000 sf (based on 1 space per 1,000 sf which is equivalent to 1 rack per 2,000 sf) Office with 54,000 sf (based on 1 space per 6,000 sf which is equivalent to 1 rack per 12,000 sf) Apartment/condo without a private garage with 8 units | 4 (8 bikes) | 6×13 =78 | 12×7 =84 | n/a |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 12,000 sf Offices with 72,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 12 units Each transit station entrance and major bus stop | 6 (12 bikes) | 6×19 =114 | 12×10 =120 | 18×7 =126 |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 16,000 sf Offices and hospitals with 96,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 16 units | 8 (16 bikes) | 6×25 =150 | 12×13 =156 | 18×10 =180* |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 18,000 sf Offices and hospitals with 108,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 18 units | 9 (18 bikes) | 6×28 =168 | 12×16 =192* | 18×10 =180 |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 20,000 sf Offices and hospitals with 120,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 20 units | 10 (20 bikes) | 6×31 =186 | 12×16 =192 | 18×13 =234** |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 24,000 sf Offices and hospitals with 144,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 24 units Government buildings, libraries, community centers (with 6 spaces per public entrance) | 12 (24 bikes) | 6×37 =222 | 12×19 =228 | 18×13 =234 |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 32,000 sf Offices and hospitals with 192,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 32 units | 16 (32 bikes) | 6×49 =294 | 12×25 =300 | 18×19 =342** |
Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 40,000 sf Offices and hospitals with 240,000 sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 40 units Sports facilities, theaters, event venues (minimum) | 20 (40 bikes) | 6×61 =366 | 12×31 =372 | 18×22 =396* |
| Grocery, restaurants, and other retail and food and drink service with 32,001+ sf Offices and hospitals with 192,001+ sf Apartment/condo lacking a private garage with 41+ units Sports facilities, theaters, and event venues with 401+ seats (1 space per 20 fixed seats) Public and private K-12 schools, colleges, and universities: (2.5 spaces per classroom) | More | More | More | More |
*There is room to add 1 a more rack within the same area
**There is room to add 2 more racks within the same area
Notes:
Scope of the table
- Dimensions are for inverted U racks placed side-by-side, not end-to-end.
- Material in the table does not account for requirements for long-term parking, such as bike rooms or other locked facilities which are needed for uses of more than a few hours.
“Number of racks” column
- Refers to minimum number of racks. Racks are the “inverted U” type, and each rack holds two bicycles locked to their frame.
- Based on Boulder city code, B.R.C. §9‑9‑6(e), table 6-1, 2025). Figure for numbers of racks is derived by dividing the number of spaces required in city code by 2 (because one rack holds two bikes), and rounding up to the next whole number (in order to derive a whole rack)
- All other public and institutional uses: 1 space per 3,000 feet of floor area, minimum of 2.
- Mixed‑use centers and shopping districts: 1 space per 10,000 sq ft of total gross floor area across the site, with a minimum of 20 short‑term spaces, distributed near multiple entrances; When multiple uses share parking, the sum of the individual short‑term requirements prescribed for such facilities.
- Not exhaustive of all uses.
“Area” columns
- Refers to minimum area needed in square feet with options for placing all racks in a single row or breaking up into two or three rows.
- One rack creates 2 bicycle parking spaces.
- The minimum number of racks that should be placed where racks are needed is 2, which creates 4 parking spaces.
- Racks are assumed to be placed side by side, with 3 feet between each rack and each rack 2 feet away from the parking area boundary to its side. So the minimum width of a parking area for two racks placed side- by-side is 7 feet.
- For more bike racks, an equation for the minimum width in feet is:
- 3(N-1)+4
- The “3” refers to the distance between each rack; the “N-1” corresponds to fact that the number of times the distance between racks needs to be measured is one less than the total number of racks; and the “4” represents 2 feet between each of the two outer racks to its side boundary.
- For example, the width in feet needs for 5 racks is 3(5-1)+4 = 3(4)+4 = 12+4 = 16.
- To calculate the width for more than one row of bicycle racks, round the number of racks up to the next number that is divisible by the number of intended rows, divide that figure by the numbers of rows, and use it for “N” above.
- For example, to place 14 racks in 3 rows, round up to the next number above 14 that divides by 3, which is 15. Now divide that by 3 to determine how many racks “wide” the space will be. It’s 5. Finally, convert to the number of feet needed by plugging 5 into “N.” That yields 3(5-1)+4 = 3(4)+4 = 16.
- In the example above, there will be some remainder space on one of the rows, since there would be 5 racks in rows one and two and 4 racks in row three. So there is room to add an extra rack in row three without needing more space.
- The minimum length of each bicycle parking space is 6 feet.
- It follows that the minimum area of a bicycle parking stall with two racks. that accommodates 4 bicycles is a 6×7 foot rectangle.
- These dimensions are minimums and different legal codes may apply. For example, Boulder’s design and construction standards call for 3’6” between racks.
Putting it into practice
- The minimum area needed for bicycle parking with the smallest footprint is 42 sf (6×7), which accomodates 2 racks and 4 bicycles. Here one bicycle uses 10.5 sf.
- The area needed per bicycle goes down as the number of racks go up. If there are no other constraints, minimizing the number of rows will maximize space efficiency in terms of the number of bikes for the area (one row is most efficient). The most space-efficient configuration listed in the table is 9.15 sf/bicycle (20 racks all in one row).
- If contiguous space is limited, other configurations can help to use available space most efficiently, including by breaking bike areas into multiple locations.
- One car parking space can generally be repurposed to hold 6 to 9 racks with room to spare. Car parking spaces are typically 8-10 feet by 18-20 feet; 6 racks can be placed within 7×18 feet and 9 racks work with a space of 10×18 feet.
- Multiple car sparking spaces repurposed together may be able to hold higher numbers of bicycles per car parking space if there is remainder space beyond what is required for each bicyle parking space left over.
Moreworks 