I cannot imagine that New York City is a good spot for cycling through the city, but it seems that the administration is promoting cycling as a »mainstream transportation option«. But as cars, bikes also need space to park them when they are not in motion. NYC is looking for new bicycle racks and that is why the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), in partnership with the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the support of Google Inc. and Transportation Alternatives announces the »CityRacks Design Competition«:

The purpose of the competition is to develop functional, well-designed sidewalk racks and to generate new concepts for bicycle parking inside commercial and residential buildings. These two initiatives, in addition to NYCDOT’s commitment to increasing the number of miles of bicycle facilities, providing the City’s first sheltered bike parking stations and creating more bicycle parking at transit stations, will raise the profile of bicycling as a convenient mode of transportation in New York.

Although bicycle lanes are the most noticeable element of the City’s cycling infrastructure, access to parking is also essential. Indeed, a study conducted by the Department of City Planning found that lack of access to secure bike parking was the primary reason cyclists did not ride to work. The current standard fixture for bicycle parking consists of variations of a fabricated square steel tube called the “CityRack” that is mounted on sidewalks. These fixtures occupy little space on the sidewalk and do not obstruct the flow of people or goods. New York City currently has thousands of CityRacks within its five boroughs and plans to add thousands more in the foreseeable future. The CityRack design, however, has been in use for over ten years and does not fulfill the potential to be an icon for New York City cycling.

The City intends to use the winning sidewalk rack as its new standard for bicycle parking. The design for the in-building rack will first be installed by Google in its New York City headquarters. It may also be used by City-owned buildings in the future, when possible.

Design for public spaces is always an interesting and challenging task as so many people get into contact with the object. This requires special materials but also a gestaltung that goes d’accord with a broader common aesthetics. And: what could be more bootlicking to see your design in New York City used by millions?

Picture by Flickr user Fußgänger. More information on the competiton here. And an intersting book about the subject of public design, called »Designing Public. Perspectives for the public.«