About half of all stolen bikes in San Francisco are reported from downtown addresses.
Thousands — yes, reader: thousands — of bikes are stolen annually in San Francisco each year. On a more macro scale, it’s estimated some 175,000 or more bicycles are robbed in the United States on an annual basis; to put this figure into a more tangible context, a bike is stolen around every three minutes in this country.
A new way to store your bike is coming as we get set to launch these new Bike Hangars with @YerbaBuena6 & @BikeLink_. Find them at Howard & 2nd streets and 4th & Minna streets.
Stay tuned! You'll be able to use the hangars by downloading & registering with the BikeLink app. pic.twitter.com/a7ASG3SQnD
— SFMTA (@SFMTA_Muni) November 28, 2023
In a city that (rightfully so) touts itself as an incredibly walkable and bikeable metro, it’s baffling that San Francisco’s bike-locking infrastructure is so anemic. (My demur domicile in Nob Hill, for example, has previously zero nearby designated places to fasten a bike lock. One is left securing their means of transportation to either a pole holding a parking sign or some sort of applicable railing — both of which are far from ideal.)
Well, this year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) partnered with BikeLink, a company that helps connect people to on-demand and secure bike locking areas, and Yerba Buena Community Benefits District to introduce the city’s first collection of enclosed bike hangers (think much more protected bike racks designed to deter theft).
Announced on X earlier this week, the hangers are long half-cylinders that were designed to be shared like a parking garage in an apartment building — sans internal combustion engines, instead replaced with geared cassettes and the occasional eclectic motor. The angers, brightly colored with floral designs, cost 0.05$ per hour to use through the BikeLink app and also offer modest protection from the elements.
While not meant to be a long-term storage solution, the addition of these short-term bike hangers will, no doubt, improve San Francisco’s “micro-mobility culture” and offer better peace of mind to riders.
“Its goal is to provide shared, limited access, and medium-term bike parking that’s more secure than our current short-term bike parking,” SFMTA spokesperson Stephen Chun. wrote in an email to the San Francisco Chronicle. It will also “enhance the city’s thriving bike and micro-mobility culture.”
The agency’s first two hangers are located in SoMa, with one on Howard and 2nd Streets and the other at 4th and Minna streets. More will be popping up in San Francisco next year as part of SFMTA’s pilot program organized around secure bike storage; SFMTA will gauge the use/success of the venture by collecting data from BikeLink reservations for the hangers.
Remember: Bike hangers are not foolproof, nor offer a panacea to bike theft. People are assholes.
When you do lock your bike inside these aluminum half-cylinders, still remember to practice proper bike locking techniques — this includes using a traditional u-lock in tandem with a chain or rope-like lock to weave through the wheels; or, better yet, invest in specific locking bolts for your wheels — because bike theft anxiety is real. And here’s hoping these well-designed cages, of sorts, will help mitigate our collecting woes around leaving our bikes outside of our rent-controlled apartments.
Feature Image: Courtesy of X via [at]
