Memo of Transmittal

To: Cherie E. Dart

From: Madison Burgess
Date: 27 November 2016
Subject: Proposal to Increase Available Bike Parking at Valencia
Apartments in San Luis Obispo
Attached is the recommendation report addressing the bike parking problem
at Valencia Apartments. Its purpose is to increase available bike parking and
relieve overcrowding from current bike racks.
Recommendations
The two solutions proposed are the following:
Invest in wall mounted bike racks that will be located in carports
Invest in bike lockers that will be located in the front parking lot and
sell annual locker permits
Methods
A variety of research methods were used to support and critique both
recommendations. My primary sources:
Email interview with Cherie E. Dart
Observational study
Email interview with Ron Reynolds
My secondary sources:

Cal Poly Administration & Finance website

International Bike Fund webpage
Online pdf provided by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle
Professionals
Online pdf provided by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center

Conclusions
Findings from my research are listed under the Results section. This
information is used in the Conclusions section to evaluate both
recommendations.
Final Recommendation
Ultimately, I recommend to purchase fifty wall mounted rack units and to
locate them in the carports where bike overcrowding is most prevalent.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this report. Feel free to contact
me with any questions or comments.

Prepared for Cherie E. Dart

Valencia Apartments

Proposal to Increase Available Bike Parking at

Valencia Apartments in San Luis Obispo

Prepared by Madison Burgess

Submitted November 27, 2016

Table of Contents
Introduction
1
Purpose

Background

Organization
2

Methods

Primary

Secondary

Results
3
Primary

Secondary

Conclusions
.7
Solution
A
..7
Solution
B
..8

Recommendation
8
References
.9
Figures
Cited
9

Appendix
11

Table of Figures
Figure
1
2

Figure
2
2

Figure
3
2

Table
1
..5

Figure
4
5

Table
2
..7

Table
3
..8

Table
4
.8

Figure
5
..11

Introduction
Purpose
In San Luis Obispo, Valencia Apartments serves as one of the largest offcampus housing complexes for students of both Cal Poly and Cuesta College.
With 496 residents, and 353 of those claiming no car at time of application,
there are numerous students who have to use alternative methods of
transportation to get to campus [1]. The need for bike parking at Valencia is
very high. However, there is a lack of sufficient space and security for
residents bikes [2]. This has led to some residents locking their bikes to
trees, rails, or keeping them inside their already cramped apartments. All of
the above options pose safety and convenience concerns.
The purpose of this report is to investigate the bike parking problem at
Valencia Apartments and use research analysis to present a recommendation
to solve this issue. With the amount of bikes fluctuating each year due to
new tenants, the problem of bike storage is a complex one. Solutions such as
re-arranging current bike racks are not viable due to limited space at the
Valencia complex [1]. My client is Cherie E. Dart, Leasing Manager for
Valencia Apartments, in San Luis Obispo.
Background
At Valencia Apartments in San Luis Obispo, I found the number of bikes to
available bike storage ratio to be 7:5. 41 bikes were misplaced, or locked
to objects other than racks such as rails, trees, other bikes, etc. [2]. This
poses both safety and convenience concerns, and shows the need for more
bike storage options. The problem of bike parking is also a timely one.
Solving this problem within a year could increase the satisfaction of current
tenants who are bike owners, and possibly boost Valencias appeal to
students looking to live off-campus next year. Valencia Apartments has a
budget of $3000-4500 [1], so a recommendation must be feasible within this
budget.
Throughout this report, I will mention various types of bike storage. Refer to
the figures below [8, 9, 10] to see the different storage options. Ground bike
racks are the most common type of storage, and they are used at Valencia
Apartments. Racks are low-cost and space efficient, allowing for a large
number of bikes to be stored in a small area. However, they are public and
less sturdy, which can lead to crime. Wall-mount racks are useful for high
density, long term bike parking, but are not accessible to all bike owners.
Bike lockers are the most secure form of storage, and refer to covered and
locked boxes in which one or two bikes can be permanently stored,
depending on the model. Lockers eliminate safety concerns, but are less
space efficient and more expensive per bike stored.

Figure 1: Ground bike rack [8]

Organization

Figure 2: Wall mount bike

rack [9]

Figure 3: Bike locker [10]

Following the introduction, this report will outline my primary and secondary
methods of research and the results from that research. I will then analyze
the results and use those conclusions to compare my proposed solutions,
ultimately presenting the better of the two. The following are my
recommendations:

Invest in wall mounted bike racks that will be located in carports

Invest in bike lockers that will be located in the front parking lot and
sell annual locker permits

Methods
Using a variety of methods for research allowed me to understand the full
scope of the bike parking problem and to collect accurate information. Using
primary and secondary methods, I obtained observational data, professional
feedback, and price estimations from credible sources.
Primary
Interview
I contacted info@valenciaapartments.com to schedule an interview. I
received a reply and conducted an email interview with Cherie Dart, Leasing
Manager for Valencia Apartments.
Observation
I conducted an observational study of the Valencia Apartments complex. I
checked all of the bike racks from 10:30pm-11:30pm on November 15, 2016.
I chose this time and date to obtain the most accurate results, under the
logical assumption that it was a school night and the majority of students
would be home and have stored their bikes. I recorded both the total amount
of bike storage provided, and the amount of bikes that were locked to other
objects such as rails, trees, other bikes, or nothing at all.
Second Interview

I contacted turtle@ameribike.com and received a reply from Ron Reynolds,

Operations Manager for American Bicycle Security Company. He answered
my questions via email.
Secondary
Parking & Commuter Options
I referred to information presented on this webpage found on Cal Polys
Administration & Finance website.
Bicycle Parking Planning Criteria
I used the information on this webpage hosted by the International Bike Fund
(IBF).
Essentials of Bike Parking
I used the information provided in this online pdf, posted on the website of
the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP).
Bicycle Infrastructure Costs in the US
I referred to the cost summary on this online pdf, found on the Pedestrian
and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) website.

Results
My primary sources provide key information about the projects budget,
feasibility of solutions, and hard data illustrating the problem of bike parking.
My secondary sources provide insight into the most efficient ways to execute
my two recommendations.
Primary
Interview
The following are the responses from the email interview with Cherie Dart,
Leasing Manager for Valencia Apartments [1]:
1. What is your current view of bike parking at Valencia Apartments?
I believe we provide a fair amount of bike racks & are lenient about bikes
being taken inside apartments, locked to our railways, & such as long as it
does not cause a hazard. We prefer they not be chained to our plant life
(trees, bushes).

2. How many total residents live in Valencia Apartments?

496 Residents Total

3. How many residents

Apartments? 240.

bought

car

parking

permits

for

Valencia

(Data for how many residents expressed no car will also be helpful, if
possible).
About 353 out of 500 applicants expressed NO CAR at time of application or
left the Auto Section Blank.

4. Does Valencia have a hypothetical budget for a project of this nature?

(Data will be used in a cost-benefit analysis).
$3000-$4500. To add bike racks it costs an average $598 for 18 bike slots per
rack.

5. Are there any changes currently being made to the amount of available
bike parking at Valencia Apartments, or any plans for the future?
Valencia definitely wants & plans to add more bike racks now, but we have
trouble finding room for them on the property. We cannot take up anymore
carports since parking is already limited for vehicles, we also have
rules/guidelines about handicapped and how much space is needed to allow
the racks to be usable.

6. Below are two proposed solutions. Do these solutions seem feasible/ do

you have any alternative solutions that could be considered?
a) Purchase more bike racks, and re-arrange current bike racks.
We plan to purchase more which is feasible financially, but do not have
enough space with the way they are currently arranged. At this time our
staff does not see a way to rearrange them that will allow space for more
than we already have.

b) Invest in bike lockers and offer bike parking permits per year.
Bike lockers would be great. However having only bike lockers does not
sound practical for all 496 tenants. Bike permits would be good &
hopefully detour thieves by seeing a registration sticker. However bike
permits also give residents room to blame Valencia or the bike being
stolen & could be asked what is the point of registering bikes if they are
still stolen whenever someone feels the need to steal.

7. Do I have permission to use these answers in my written report? Yes.

8. Do I have permission to cite your name as interviewee in my written
report?
Yes, Cherie E. Dart Leasing Manager.

9. And finally, are there any comments or questions you have regarding
this project, or any other information you feel would be helpful in this
research?
I do want you to know Valencia agrees that more bike racks would be great
for our residents & I would like to provide more lighting in general to detour
thieves if they feel they can be easily seen. However bikes are like cars, we
4

never know how many we will have per year with 496 tenants. Something
important to me is: Valencia should not be blamed if there are more bikes
than the years prior, it will be a constant battle to provide enough bike racks
& parking. We do provide bike racks throughout the complex not just in 1
area which is convenient as far as location per tenant. However it may be
wise for us to try something out like: choose 1 designated area (a row of
parking by the office) and see how many racks we can fit there, this would
make the bikes in 1 area easier to supervise instead of random ones
throughout the complex that we cant see unless we walk by them.

Observation
A survey of the Valencia Apartments complex between the hours of 10:30pm
and 11:30pm on November 15 th, 2016 yielded the results shown in Table 1
[2]. I observed the most rack overcrowding in the two sections of carports
located underneath apartments 38-89 (see Figure 5 [11] in Appendix).
Table 1: Observation of bike parking at Valencia Apartments [2]

Total Bikes
Observed

Misplaced
Bikes
Observed

140*

41

Total
Available
Bike Storage
(# of bike
racks)
100

Total
Bikes :
Total
Storage
7:5, or
140%*

*This study does not take into account any bikes that are stored inside apartments

Figure 4: Example of misplaced bikes observed at Valencia Apartments [2]

Second Interview
The following are the responses from Ron Reynolds, Operations Manager for
American Bicycle Security Company [3].
1. What is a hypothetical quote for 50 of your Wall Racks (the singlesided ones that mount directly on the wall)?
The cost for the 50 units of the Wall Rack is $3,450.00

2. Also, what would the cost be for 10 *Downtown Racks (railmounted, 5 bike capacity)?
10 units of the Downtown Rack R5 is $9,700.00. Combined tax for all would
be $1,052.00 and shipping and handling would be around $2,500.00. Dont
forget to factor lead time and cost of installation.
*A Downtown Rack is a more secure type of ground bike rack

Secondary
Parking & Commuter Options
According to the official Cal Poly website, 68% of students live within 5 miles
of the Cal Poly campus. Valencia is included in this statistic, located less than
2 miles from campus, making it an easy bike commute. To accommodate oncampus residents and bike commuters, Cal Poly offers bike lockers for secure
storage. They charge $75 per academic year [4].
Bicycle Parking Planning Criteria
According to the International Bike Fund, there are three common ways of
providing secure long term bicycle parking [5]:

Fully enclosed lockers accessible only by the user, generally involving a

charge
Continuously monitored facility that provides at least medium term
type bicycle parking facilities, generally available at no-charge
Restricted access facilities in which short term type bicycle racks are
provided and access is restricted only to the owners of the bicycles
stored therein

Essentials of Bike Parking

According to the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, special
considerations must be made for long term bike parking, one of those being
density. There are a variety of high-density bike rack options detailed on
page 7 of the online pdf. Features of the vertical, or wall-mount racks are
listed below [6]:

Typically used for high-density indoor parking

6

Can be used in combination with on-ground parking to increase

overall parking density
Not accessible to all users or all bikes
Creates safety concerns not inherent to on-ground parking

Bicycle Infrastructure Costs in the US

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center conducted an observation and
collected data concerning pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure costs. Table 2
illustrates the data collected for bike parking specifically [7].

Table 2: Costs for bicycle parking [7]

Conclusions
Solution A
Wall mounted racks are the perfect solution for high density bike parking
problems. These racks are durable and can hold two bikes per rack. For 50
units, the total cost would be around $4,450, which would be within
Valencias budget [3, 2]. They could easily be installed as soon as they are
ordered and shipped, keeping within the time frame of one year. The bikes
would be raised above the ground, keeping them cleaner and less likely to
get damaged. They would be installed in 50 individual carports, and I
suggest locating them in the carports where there is the most overcrowding
[2, 11]. With up to 100 bikes being stored above ground, there will be more
open space in the ground racks for other bike owners to use.
The downside to these racks are that they are above ground, and therefore
would require lifting to store them, which could possibly cause injury to the
bike owner or damage to the bike [6]. They also would only be available to
the person renting the carport, and possibly he or shes roommates,
depending on Valencias choice of policy. However, a few wall racks could be
mounted above each ground rack (space permitting), allowing for more
public use of the wall racks.

Monetary

Other
7

Cost

$3,4500 for 50 units of the Wall Rack

(100 bike capacity)

Labor, installation, and

taxes ~$1000

Benefit

$0

Less overcrowding of
ground bike racks

Total
Cost

~$4,450

Table 3: Cost-benefit analysis for wall mounted racks [3]

Solution B
Bike lockers are the most secure form of long term bike storage, and they
can be stacked or arranged for space efficiency [5]. Parking permits can pay
off the initial investment cost, however it would take around 9 years before
Valencia would generate a profit. The installation would be costly but would
still be feasible in the one year time frame. They could be located in the front
parking lot, since Valencia is already considering this as an option for bike
storage.
With all this considered, the initial investment is still far out of Valencias
current budget. These lockers would only relieve up to 20 possible bike
spaces in the ground racks, leaving a possibility that there will still be some
overcrowding.

Cost

Benefit
Total Cost

Monetary

Other

$20,900 for 10 bike

lockers (20 bike
capacity)
$2500 per year ($125
annual permit per bike)
~$21,400

Labor, installation, and

taxes
~$3000
Price of permit can be
adjusted
In 9 years, the locker
permits would cover this
amount and begin
generating profit

Table 4: Cost-benefit analysis for bike lockers [3]

My first recommendation is ultimately the better solution, since it is within

Valencias original budget and provides the largest amount of alternate bike
storage, relieving the most space in the ground bike racks.

Recommendation
Based on research, feasibility, and a cost-benefit analysis, I recommend
investing in wall mounted bike racks and locating them in the carports shown
in Figure 5.

References
[1] C. Dart, Leasing and Account Specialist, Valencia Apartments. San Luis
Obispo, CA. 13
November, 2016.
[2] M. Burgess, Observational Study on Misplaced Bikes at Valencia
Apartments,
Observation. November 2016.
[3] R. Reynolds, Operations Manager for American Bicycle Security Company.
Ventura, CA.
18 November, 2016.
[4] "Parking & Commuter Options," in Cal Poly Administration & Finance.
[Online].
Available: https://afd.calpoly.edu/parking/commute/. Accessed: Nov. 12,
2016.
[5] Bicycle Parking Planning Criteria in International Bike Fund. [Online].
Available:
http://www.ibike.org/engineering/parking.htm. Accessed: Nov. 15,
2016.
[6] "Essentials of Bike Parking," in Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle
Professionals.
[Online]. Available:
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.apbp.org/resource/resmgr/Bicycle_Parkin
g/Essential
sofBikeParking_FINA.pdf. Accessed: Nov. 16, 2016.
[7] "Costs for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Infrastructure Improvements,"
in Pedestrian and
Bicycle Information Center. [Online]. Available:
http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/cms/downloads/Countermeasure_Costs_Su
mmary_Oct2013.pdf. Accessed: Nov. 16, 2016.

Figures Cited
[8] Figure 1
Terapeak, 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://www.terapeak.com/worth/bike-rack-5-bicycle-parking-floormount-adjustable-storage-holder-ground-stand/121736689902/.
Accessed: Nov. 19, 2016.
[9] Figure 2
9

"Wall Rack," [Online]. Available: http://ameribike.com/pdf/Wall-Rack.pdf.

Accessed:
Nov. 19, 2016.
[10] Figure 3
"CycleSafe Bike Lockers,". [Online]. Available: http://cyclesafe.com/bikelockers/. Accessed:
Nov. 19, 2016.
[2] Table 1
M. Burgess, Observational Study on Misplaced Bikes at Valencia
Apartments,
Observation. November 2016.
[2] Figure 4
M. Burgess, Observational Study on Misplaced Bikes at Valencia
Apartments,
Observation. November 2016.
[7] Table 2
"Costs for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Infrastructure Improvements,"
in Pedestrian and
Bicycle Information Center. [Online]. Available:
http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/cms/downloads/Countermeasure_Costs_Su
mmary_Oct2013.pdf. Accessed: Nov. 16, 2016.
[3] Table 3
R. Reynolds, Operations Manager for American Bicycle Security Company.
Ventura, CA.
18 November, 2016.
[3] Table 4
R. Reynolds, Operations Manager for American Bicycle Security Company.
Ventura, CA.
18 November, 2016.
[11] Figure 5
"Complex Map," in Valencia Apartments. [Online]. Available:
https://www.valenciaapartments.com/files/complex_map.pdf. Accessed:
Nov. 17, 2016.
10

Appendix

11

Figure 5: Valencia Apartments complex map [11]

Red = Carports where wall racks should be mounted

Yelllow = Location of current, overcrowded ground racks

12