I’m a daily rain-or-shine bicycle commuter, and I think this preference for parking right at our destinations isn’t much different in mindset than the mindset that keeps so many people using their SOVs.

In many cities it is impractical, particularly from a land use standpoint, to have many smaller bike parking facilities distributed all over the place rather than fewer and larger facilities like the Philly concept here.

Sure, bike racks should still be scattered all over the place, but in many cities there’s a severe shortage of covered bike parking, which is something that deters new bike commuters. I see a bigger upside and a better step towards promoting and increasing ridership with larger centralized facilities.

Listen, if it’s raining, you already have your rain gear on, so what’s the big deal if you have to walk a handful of blocks from the bike parking to your final destination?