1) “Short term” parking for visitors and patrons of visitors – generally the inverted-U and other racks common on the sidewalk and near business entrances. Short term spaces are meant for people parking their bikes long enough to use a library, eat at a restaurant, get a haircut, visit a coffee shop, etc.

2) “Long term” parking employees of a business or tenants of an apartment/condo/loft building. These are covered and secure parking spots in a garage, basement, bike room, or outside in a bike locker or under a canopy. Long term parking is meant for employees to park their bikes while they are at work all day or for residents of multi-tenant housing to park overnight.

Both are essential, and it sounds like you are on your way in Cincinnati!

The maintenance costs could potentially come from DCI on an annual basis, but it doesn’t really fit in with their core responsibilities as laid out by their constituents, so I doubt that will happen any time soon.

@Randy: I’m aware of their regulations. I was told by the Ambassador not to walk my bike, much less ride it, because the rubber damages the granite, unlike horse hoofs apparently. I knew better and took him up on it and ignored him, plus it is pretty obvious what the signage says.

That said, the disconnect and the lack of signage as I pointed out and you reinforced is something that should be corrected. I think this is something that can grow and become better, like the scooter parking issue.

There still needs to be above-ground parking for bikes, via simple racks, which I suggested to 3CDC long ago. This is a start and I’m happy for it, so I hope that the word gets out about it.

1) Yes, they are free for anyone to use.

2) You hook your bicycle to the top of bracket where there is a spot to hang your bicycle’s front tire. The brackets seen in the image above then provide an option for you to lock your bicycle to a solid steel locking loop with any locking device of your preference.

I have another photo that better illustrates the hook where you hang your bicycle if that would be useful.

In that is specifically states that “bicycle riding, rollerblading, or skateboarding” are prohibited. So it is the action of riding a bicycle that is prohibited, not the mere presence of one.

As for creating a more visible, covered shelter…great. The problem is that it requires an much greater upfront capital cost and long-term maintenance costs that can probably not be funded at this point. Along those lines, wayfinding signage downtown and across the city has difficulty being built and maintained for this exact reason. There isn’t a dedicated stream of money to maintain the items, and the capital costs usually have to be covered by state and/or federal grants.

For cyclists to bike to work, it needs to be convenient for them to both lock and secure their bike, and to get a shower or at least have a facility to change clothes. Dayton has this on their riverfront, although it is immediately adjacent to their downtown. Ideally, downtown would need more than what the riverfront will contain, and this facility would be great if it could be expanded into something more.

The main issue I have with this is that it is not easily accessible and it is not visible. Cygnus is correct in that the ramps are not bicycle friendly — and the signage outright prohibits any such movements except if you are in an auto. There is no outward signage anywhere else, and the signage at Fountain Square prohibits bicycles — yet you must cross Fountain Square to access the elevator to head down. But it’s not signed there yet, either.

A great start, but this would have been better located in a more visible location. It need not necessarily be buried in a parking garage, and can be located in a covered shelter on the street even (e.g. what Columbus has).