BART to triple Civic Center bike parking

Bike parking in the Civic Center BART station will more than triple after transit officials awarded a $540,000 contract to LC General Engineering, Inc. to construct the new racks.

Once completed in 2015, bike parking will increase from the current 63 racks to 216, said Steve Beraldo, BART’s Bike Manager.

Eighty-nine of the new racks will be part of the secured bike parking area on the Civic Center concourse that will require bikers to get a BikeLink smart card. An additional 60 spaces will be available in the free access adjacent to the BikeLink facility.

The free spaces could be merged with the secure biking area at a future time if demand warrants it, said Beraldo.

The project also includes more space-efficient bike racks in the paid area, which will increase bike parking and improve pedestrian flow.

Funding for the Civic Center project will come from four grants including funds from the San Francisco Proposition K sales tax.

The Civic Center bike parking project is just the latest series of projects to increase secure bike parking at 18 stations. BART’s bike parking plan calls for additional 2,000 spaces.