BART unveils new bike parking station at Civic Center

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) yesterday opened a new bike parking station at its Civic Center rail station in San Francisco. The new structure brings the total number of parking spaces in the station to 248, agency officials said in a press release.

BART's newest bike parking station
Photo: San Francisco County Transportation Authority's Twitter account

Cyclists use a "BikeLink" card to load bikes into the storage room, which charges 3 cents an hour for controlled access parking. Parking is free in the open parking areas of the bike station and inside fare gates, BART officials said.

Providing secure parking for bicyclists is part of the agency's three-pronged strategy to encourage cyclists and simplify the transition between transit modes. The other elements of that strategy are BART's bike-sharing program and its recent policy change allowing bikes on board trains at all times when there is enough room, agency officials said.

The Civic Center bike parking station is the sixth such station for BART.

"The Civic Center concourse is a wonderfully natural fit for a bike parking station," said Tom Radulovich, a member on BART's board. "This is where several of the most popular San Francisco bike routes converge, which means a lot for commuters heading into the East Bay."