Indoor Bike Rooms Need a Rebuild
September 16, 2025
Why is bike parking in buildings still an afterthought for many real estate owners and property managers? Quality bike parking is a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining tenants, but when you add the continuous growth of e-bike sales to the equation, most building owners are missing the mark.
A bike room with all vertical racks can't hold a 60+ pound e-cargo bike. The lack of outlets, safe charging, and storage for e-bikes and e-scooters are an unspoken deterrent for some. Even newer developments that have added the required bike parking quantities are behind the curve on e-bike and e-scooter adoption for commutes and short trips.
City bike parking codes could be revamped to require a higher share of horizontal racks (Cambridge, MA is a good example), charging built into bike rooms, lockers for folding bikes and scooters, and flexibility for in-house shared e-bikes. If you take a step back, we haven't factored in the needs of how people are increasingly moving around our cities. Meanwhile the U.S. compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of e-bike sales (37%) exceeds the CAGR of EV sales (32%). Are we investing in e-bike charging infrastructure to the extent we are for EVs?
If curb space is already fought over for parking, loading zones, and rideshare pickup/dropoff, then why not encourage (or incentivize) more office and apartment building owners to build the secure spaces needed? When it comes to building better bike rooms and end of trip facilities - what works better - the carrot or the stick?
What is the most (or least) bike-friendly setup you've seen in your office or residential building?
Share your experiences in the comments below!
