CityRack Large Hoop Rack

Storehouse of equity

rota custodia

Order
supellex
Family
condo
Genus
rota
Species
rota custodia

Description

Ubiquitous public and free bike parking on New York City sidewalks. Individual examples are CityRacks, when multiple roost together they form a BikeCorral.

See also diminutive cousin rota custodulus (cn. CityRack Small Hoop Rack) which functions similarly, but with unique morphological and utility attributes.

Identification

Medium sized round cast iron circle, with horizontal crossmember parallel with the ground. Anchored to the ground with four bolts.

Habitat

Primarily found curbside on major thoroughfares. BikeCorrals are formed once a maintenance partner is found; currently there are approximately meg 55 BikeCorral zones found in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Range

Throughout the five boroughs.

Examples

Discussion

New York City provides over 28,000 free City racks throughout the five boroughs. These are intended to not only spark alternative forms of transportation, away from cars, but also allow people to safely Secure their bicycle away from other people’s private property.

Climate impacts

Reliance on car and personal vehicle mobility is a recipe for climate disaster. In New York City, 54.5 percent of households are car-free. Creating and maintaining an excellent bicycle infrastructure promotes both safety and equity. If we don’t need to purchase and maintain a private vehicle, then we can save that money for other means. Additionally, in New York City we have a geometry problem: we aren’t making more roads. App-based ride hailing systems (such as Uber and Lyft) might be more convenient, but studies have shown that they induce demand, and increase traffic. If we are serious about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and overall climate impact, then we need to reallocate street space away from personal vehicles and to high frequency mobility such as public transport (buses and trains) and bicycles.