San Diego to create regional bicycling center

I've written about Arlington's Commuter Store--a "store" that sells transit tickets etc. as an element of transportation demand management programming, and how it should have a broader focus on sustainable mobility, to be more of a "sustainable mobility lifestyle store."

Lime was going to create scooter stores, and Goodyear is testing the "Roll" concept along these lines, to upgrade the tire buying experience. 

-- "LimeBike and "scooter lifestyle stores" as an example of forward marketing for sustainable mobility" 

I've written about bike service centers associated with transit centers such as in Santa Monica, Greater Los Angeles, Heathrow Airport as a model for US airports ("Why not a bicycle hub at National Airport?, focused on capturing worker trips but open to all"), at train stations, etc.  

-- Cycling expertise: Bicycle parking at railroad stations, German Federal Ministry of Transport

Underground parking in Utrecht, The Netherlands

In comments on master planning for DC's Union Station, since the building is owned by the US Department of Transportation, I've argued it should be a national best practice demonstration site for bicycle transportation services, modeled after the best of European examples ("Netherlands opens world’s largest bicycle parking at train station," RailTech, "The Dutch underground bicycle-park arms race," Economist).

Bogota has nice bicycle parking centers integrated into their bus rapid transit network.  

Medellin links bike sharing to transit use so that at the end of trip on a train, bus or aerial gondola, they can get to their final destination on a bike share trip, and they can ride for free for up to two hours ("Encicla: A Guide to Medellín’s Free City Bikes System," Medellin Guru).

One of the best models doesn't have a bike shop, but is the headquarters for VeloQuebec on a major bicycle track in Montreal.  It has a coffee shop, bike travel center, sells books and other items relating to bicycling, etc.

Denver Bike Cafe.  Photo by Jake Belvin.

The Rapha bicycling brand has stores too, called clubhouses, that may combine cafes, there are an increasing number of bike cafes and bars ("Six Bike-friendly Bars and Cafes," Momentum Magazine), and in Iowa there are bike mobility hubs often in conjunction with regional trails.

San Diego is creating a regional bicycling center ("San Diego OKs $2.6M regional bicycling center at Liberty Station," San Diego Union Tribune) that will add some new elements to the concept as a see it.  

The initiative is spearheaded by the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, which is fundraising for the project.  From the article: 

The new center, which supporters describe as a community gathering place “for all things bicycle,” is slated to have areas for lectures, exhibits, safety seminars, group gatherings, bike repair and some limited commercial activities. ... 

The fundraising campaign may include selling naming rights to the cycling center and allowing part of the center to be occupied by cycling companies and related businesses. 

It will be close to popular cycling paths along the San Diego River, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay. Cyclists on those paths may make the cycling center a regular part of their journey, said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the bicycle coalition. “Let’s think of it as a cultural bike hub,” Hanshaw said Wednesday. “It will be sort of an iconic place for people to gather.” 

The center, which could open within two years, will feature exhibits on the history of cycling in San Diego, a bike maintenance area, air pumps, lockers and possibly shower facilities.

This takes ideas I've suggested to a new level, by adding exhibits, more along the lines of what I've suggested for train stations.

Every metropolitan area should be doing this.  Maybe LA MTA comes closest ("LA Metro understands bicycling").  They have a nice bicycle transit center at Union Station.  It's not like the ones in Europe, which are on a scale unimaginable here, but still impressive, along with other bike hubs at other transit centers across the country.

Bicycle Center Santa Monica is independent of the LA MTA effort, and is supported by the city.  (They run the LA Union Station center under contract.)

The shop rents bikes and supports commuting (in a separate operation with secure bike parking, showers, and lockers, independent from government support other than cheap rent), with a shop with roll up doors, located in a prominent location in a city parking structure, one block from the Downtown Santa Monica Metro Station and the Third Street Promenade pedestrian mall.

I've never seen a bike shop mobbed quite like that one.  It was impossible to interview any staff because they were so busy.

Alongside the creation of a network of bike hubs, which could be developed in association with for profit cycling shops, as well as nonprofit bike cooperatives, there needs to be a metropolitan and regional secure bicycle parking network, modeled after the Parkiteer program in Greater Melbourne ("Bike to Work Day as an opportunity to assess the state of bicycle planning: Part 2, building a network of bike facilities at the regional scale").

-- Parkiteer presentation