MCBC's Report Card Bike Parking at Marin Town Halls – Rated!
While MCBC typically spends a lot of time focused on bike lanes and pathways, bike parking is just as important. If there’s nowhere to lock your bike when you get to your destination, you risk getting your bike stolen. Many people pass up trips by bike if they know there is nowhere to park.
No doubt, there are countless places where more bike parking is needed. But if there is one place where a city or town can demonstrate its commitment to bike access, it’s the seat of local government! Think about it – if there’s no bicycle parking at city hall, how are bicyclists even supposed to ask their local government for more bike parking?
We decided to visit every city or town hall in Marin and give a letter grade based on the quality and quantity of the bicycle parking. Which cities welcome bicyclists into the halls of power and give them the cold shoulder? Read on to find out!
How We Graded Each City/Town
Each city/town hall is graded on three criteria:
Type
Bike racks vary widely, some being highly functional and others downright goofy. We consider the inverted-U (or staple) rack the preferred rack type. Everything else is worse, but there are varying levels of bad.
Quantity
Even if the city has the best bike racks in the world, there must be enough. Think of it this way – if most of the council and a couple of staffers arrive by bike, you should still be able to find a place to park. If it seems like we’re being overly harsh, remember that ten bike parking spaces are just one car parking space. Cities need more than one car parking spot’s worth of bike racks to get an A grade.
Location
Too often, bike parking is an apparent afterthought, installed in an unlit corner of the parking lot. To reward people for traveling in a space-efficient way, bike parking should be near the front door and well-lit to discourage theft.
On to the grades, ranked best to worst!
Novato
Rack Type
Novato uses inverted-U racks that are installed at a proper distance between racks. This is the gold standard and a model for city hall bike parking. Grade: A
Capacity
The five inverted-U racks Novato has installed have a capacity of 10 bikes. Grade: B
Location
The bike parking is located in the employee parking lot, closer to the main entrance than all but the ADA parking spaces, with lighting nearby. Grade: A
Overall Report Card
While we’d love to see a little more bike parking or at least a secondary overflow area, Novato has the best city hall bike parking in Marin County. We have no additional recommendations. Grade: A
TIBURON
Rack Type
Tiburon uses a somewhat unusual type of rack called a “hitch rack.” While they work well for most bikes and don’t require the lifting of the frame that a wave rack requires, they can be a little fiddly. Grade: B
Capacity
The five racks have a capacity of 10 bikes. Grade: B
Location
The location is excellent; it is just a few steps from the main entrance and has good visibility and lighting. Grade: A
Overall Report Card
We’d love to see a different rack type and just a little more parking, but we’ll round up because there are additional racks just 100’ away in front of the library. Grade: A
LARKSPUR
Rack Type
Larkspur City Hall has two inverted-U racks just down the steps from the main entrance and one two-position “coathanger” rack at the library entrance around the side of the building. We’re considering both to be part of parking capacity, so the inverted-U racks get an A, with the coathangers receiving a C, so we’ll split the difference. Grade: B
Capacity
The two inverted-U racks provide parking for four bikes. The coathanger rack can permit another two (possibly three) bikes. Given the fiddliness of the library racks, we will round down. Grade: C
Location
Both racks are just a few steps from the main entrance. The inverted-U racks are well-lit, and while the coathanger racks are less visible, they are right in the front of the parking lot. Grade: A
Overall Report Card
The main issues are a lack of total capacity and goofy rack design. Replacing the coathanger rack with a better design and adding another couple of inverted-U racks would bring Larkspur up to an A. Grade: B
SAN ANSELMO
Rack Type
San Anselmo uses “staple” racks, which are equivalent in quality to inverted-U racks, the gold standard. No notes here! Grade: A
Capacity
There are three staple racks in front of Town Hall, allowing a capacity of six bikes. There are two more racks around the back of the building and three in front of the library. We’d bump the grade to a B if there were a “more parking in the rear” sign. Grade: C
Location
The location is right in front of the main entrance in a well-lit area with visibility from the sidewalk. Grade: A
Overall Report Card
San Anselmo does a nice job with its bike parking, particularly for a constrained area. MCBC recommends installing a few more spots or a sign providing directions to the employee lot. Grade: B
BELVEDERE
Rack Type
Wave racks, though common, are not preferred for several reasons. Many people lock their bikes parallel to the rack, reducing capacity. Additionally, locking to the middle slots requires users to lift the bike, a challenge for some riders, especially people on e-bikes. Grade: C
Capacity
Because the rack is installed so close to the wall, the capacity is three bikes. A fourth would risk getting hit by vehicles driving around the right side of the building. Grade: D
Location
The location is about as good as you hope for, with easy access to the building’s front door. Minor deduction for lack of lighting, limiting visibility at night. Grade: B
Overall Report Card
While the location is good, very low capacity and suboptimal rack design put Belvedere in the middle of the pack. We’d recommend replacing the wave rack with inverted-U racks and potentially repurposing a parking space for additional bike parking. Grade: C
CORTE MADERA
Rack Type
Corte Madera has a brand new Town Hall, opening in July 2024. Happily, their rack design is aesthetically pleasing and adequately functional. At MCBC, we always advocate for standard inverted-U locks, as riders know the best way to lock their bike and shouldn’t have to figure out the best way to lock up to a new rack every time they park. Grade: B
Capacity
With only two racks, the maximum capacity is four bikes, which might be three if a large cargo bike has to be parked in the middle. Given that the Town Hall was just built, this feels like a huge miss and merits an additional deduction. Dead space around the back of the building could be repurposed for more parking. If that happens, we will reconsider the grade. Grade: D
Location
The location is ideal, immediately next to the main entrance, in a well-lit plaza. Grade: A
Overall Report Card
Given the excellent location and solid rack design, we’d love to give this a higher grade, but the low capacity (particularly in a new building) is too glaring to ignore. MCBC recommends installing bike parking in an unused spot in the back of the building and/or repurposing a parking spot for bike parking. Grade: C
FAIRFAX
Rack Type
Fairfax has two different bike parking installations. One is a three-position inverted-U rack with a capacity of six bikes (image above), and the other is a bike stand (affectionately called a “wheel bender” rack). Given the difficulty of locking to bike stands, we do not consider those secure bike parking. Inverted-U racks are the gold standard, but these are spaced too closely. Grade: B
Capacity
The inverted-U rack has a theoretical capacity of six bikes, but given that the racks are spaced too closely and on a slope (making parking on the far side a challenge), the rack is more likely to fit four bikes. Grade: C
Location
The rack is around the back of the building, in front of the parking lot. The walk is no farther than it is for drivers (about 200’ to the main entrance), but visibility from the street is poor, raising the threat of theft. Grade: C
Overall Report Card
The bike parking at Fairfax is decent, but we don’t find much to write home about. This is the bare minimum we could expect, and not much more. MCBC recommends finding an area for additional inverted-U racks, potentially where the bike stand is currently. Grade: C
SAN RAFAEL
Rack Type
San Rafael uses a hybrid inverted-U/wave rack, which we don’t care for due to spacing inefficiencies and the challenges of locking up heavier bikes, which require lifting over the metal bar. People often misunderstand how to use a wave rack and lock their bikes parallel to the rack, severely limiting capacity. Grade: C
Capacity
The rack has a theoretical capacity of six bikes, but that might not always be possible due to the tight spacing next to the wall and the inefficiencies of wave racks. Grade: C
Location
The location is good, between the parking lot and the rear door, with good visibility from inside and the parking lot. However, the ramp is around the side of the building, meaning riders are forced to double back to the ramp or walk their bikes down a staircase. Grade: B
Overall Report Card
San Rafael’s bike parking falls into the “adequate but not impressive” category. MCBC recommends replacing the current rack with inverted-U racks and installing additional parking in front of the building. Grade: C
SAUSALITO
Rack Type
Sausalito has an inverted-U rack, which is MCBC’s preferred bicycle bike. Grade: A
Capacity
Unfortunately, only a single rack is installed in the Sausalito City Hall parking lot, which has a capacity of two bikes. This feels all too fitting in a city already plagued with a severe shortage of bicycle parking compared to its bicycle traffic. While there are several additional racks on the east side of the building (at the Parks and Recreation entrance), there is no way a visitor would know to look for these. Grade: D
Location
The location of the meager amount of bike parking is good, between the parking lot and the main entrance to the city council chambers. Grade: A
Overall Report Card
Given the low capacity, this could have been a D, but we decided to be generous given the good location, solid installation, and additional parking elsewhere on site. MCBC recommends additional parking at this entrance and signage directing riders to the Parks & Rec entrance bike parking. Grade: C
MARIN COUNTY CIVIC CENTER
Rack Type
The Civic Center uses inverted-U racks near the south arch and wave racks at the central arch. We’re prefer inverted-U racks at both locations, but we’ll round up. Grade: A
Capacity
The four inverted-U racks at the south arch have a total capacity of eight bicycles. The wave rack at the central arch provides parking for another six bicycles. Given that Marin County employs over 3,000 people, this is laughable. Not all of these employees work at the Civic Center, but the building is the seat of the County government. When comparing it to the amount of car parking provided, there is about one bicycle parking spot for every 50 car parking spots. Grade: D
Location
While the bike parking location is close enough to the south and central arches, there is no bicycle parking at the north arch. A building big enough to have multiple entrances should have bike parking at each entrance. Grade: B
Overall Report Card
It’s hard to grade the Civic Center using the same rubric as Marin’s smaller cities and towns. But while most cities have four or five times as many car parking spaces as bike parking spots, the Civic Center eclipses all of them with fifty times as much car parking. At the least, we’d recommend a bank of 10 spots at each of the three building entrances, with overflow spaces in the vast parking lots. Grade: C
MILL VALLEY
Rack Type
Mill Valley City Hall has an ornamental bike stand as its only bike parking. Though you could stand a number of bikes in it, you can only securely (if awkwardly) lock two bikes to it. This is the bottom of the barrel regarding bike parking design. Grade: D
Capacity
Due to the poor design, only two bikes may be securely parked here. This is not a space constraint! The space could hold at least eight bikes if designed well. Grade: D
Location
The location is ideal, in a relatively high-traffic area between the car parking lot and the main entrance to City Hall. Visibility from the sidewalk is also good. Minor deduction for a lack of nearby lighting. Grade: B
Overall Report Card
Despite the good location, the design and total capacity are inexcusable, making this some of Marin’s worst city hall bike parking. MCBC recommends replacing the bike stand with inverted-U racks in the same location.
That said, we are happy to report Mill Valley is planning to replace this parking in September. We will update you when we can review the new bike parking. Grade: D (for now)
Ross
Ross does not have any bike parking at its Town Hall. The only option would be to lock up to a signpost in the car parking lot, which feels like a risk.
Overall Report Card
There’s not much to say here. While there isn’t an obvious spot in the front of the building to add bike parking, nothing is stopping the town from installing bike racks in a car parking spot or adding a concrete pad somewhere on the property. Grade: F
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