If people don’t drive to work, they have to walk, take transit, or ride a bicycle (or scooter or rollerblade). Reducing traffic means making all of these methods more appealing. Successful bike commuting requires three main components: bike parking at home, bike parking at work, and shower facilities. The draft zoning regulations require all three of these for new development.

Bicycle parking comes in two flavors. Class A is parking in locked bike rooms suitable for residents or employees to store their bikes for hours. Class B is well-lit, accessible outdoor parking designed for visitors. A restaurant should have a little class A and more class B; an office building, more class A but still some B.

In addition, non-residential buildings over a certain size have to provide one shower facility per gender and some lockers. Workers won’t bike on their commutes if they have to bike in their suits and smell when they arrive.

The specific requirements in this draft are somewhat arbitrary and will probably change. Councilmember Tommy Wells, who has been the primary driving force behind laws in DC to require bike parking, has suggested a few changes to the requirements listed here. Commercial buildings as small as 3,000 square feet should provide bike parking, and the office requirements should increase for A to one space per 3,000 square feet (instead of 10) and B to one per 10,000 square feet (instead of 40) to match best practices in other cities. Outdoor recreation and transit centers should have much more parking than listed in the draft: at least one bike space per 5 car spaces (instead of 20) and far more than 8 spaces per transit facility; both outdoor recreation and transit outside the center city are the perfect places to have lots of bike parking. Finally, school requirements only assume that a few teachers will ride; Wells recommends 1 space per 10 students and per 3 teachers.

Do you see anything that looks wrong or should change? Post it in the comments—the Office of Planning is eager for feedback.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.