Legal Issues

From BikeOff Parking Standards Consultation

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Legal issues (UK focused) on bicycle parking provision

1. The location of facilities may need to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. ^[1].
2. If a bike is left at the cyclist’s own risk, alert them of the personal responsibility they assume when locking up their bike. ^[2]
3. Public realm: Part IV of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 allows for the provision of offstreet parking places for vehicles and authorises the use of any part of a road as a parking place. These powers are extended by Section 63 of the Act to allow provision “in roads and elsewhere of stands and racks for bicycles”. A single Order under the Act can be used to cover cycle parking in the whole of an administrative area. However, all the individual sites must be set out in an accompanying Schedule.^[3] If waiting and loading restritions are in force, bicycles (like other vhicles) may not be legaly parked on the carraeway or the footway, unles exempt from the order. ^[4]
4. Off-Street: Research shows that currently there is no universally agreed methodology for deciding how many parking spaces to provide (see Scale of Provision (capacity). However, many local authorities have derived their own standards based on existing use and their targets for cycle journeys to work.^[5]
5. A new structure in school grounds to provide cycle parking may require planning consent before it can be installed. In general, if the structure's floor area is under 30 square metres and made of noncombustible materials, building regulations approval is not required. The need for planning permission depends on the size of the construction and its location. If the structure is at least 20 metres from the school boundary, it should be exempt but it is still worth seeking advice from your local planning officer.^[6]
6. Canopies that cover cycle parking facilities may require building permits.^[7]
7. Kerb build-outs to accomodate cycle parking can be provided using the general provision in the Highways Act 1980 that allows highway authorities to vary which parts of the highway are allocated to which classes of road user, including moving kerb lines.^[8]
8. Building owners and managers may cite concerns about fire codes and liability as deterrents to providing bike facilities, but many building regulations however, are quite clear and do not restrict sensible bike parking. Because bicycles emit no exhaust and are not flammable, they are not considered to be hazardous and pose few regulatory problems. Bikes by themselves are not fire hazards. Storage of bicycles in designated rooms poses no problem and keeps bicycles out of the way. Bicycle racks installed in a lobby or at the end of a hallway can easily be located to satisfy Fire and Building Inspectors.^[9]

References/Origins of standard items

1. ↑ Transport for London (2006). Workplace Cycle Parking Guide
2. ↑ Transportation Alternatives: Bicycle Parking Solutions (2007)
3. ↑ Local Transport Note 2/08 DfT 2008
4. ↑ Local Transport Note 2/08 DfT 2008
5. ↑ Safe Routes to Schools (2007).
6. ↑ Victoria Transport Policy Institute (2007).
7. ↑ Victoria Transport Policy Institute (2007).
8. ↑ Transport for London (2007). Cycling Design Standards.
9. ↑ Transportation Alternatives: Bicycle Parking Solutions (2007).