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2018 Best of Bicycles, Part 2: Safety & Storage

Two things that can contribute to increasing bike ridership: Ease of storage and personal safety. Here are some of the strides (and setbacks?) made in both categories this year.

Bike Storage

Utrecht’s new, space-efficient three-level bicycle parking facility is a great example of how to fit a lot of bicycles into a very limited space.

An example of bicycle storage design gone wrong? Quebec City’s bike rack design competition yielded the staggering cost of $23,600 per rack.

For storing your bike in your own home, we asked you two Yea or Nays. The first was on the Parkis Automatic Vertical Bike Rack.

The second question we asked: Would having removable handlebars on your bike make it easier to store in your apartment?

Bike Safety

The ability to both see and be seen is of course a bike safety basic. Vya’s Smart Bike Lights aim to provide both features with a minimum of UX hassle.

With the Laserlight Core, designer Emily Brooke has upgraded her bike-based laser projection safety system.

Is there anything worse than being on a bicycle and experiencing a near miss with a deadly, fast-moving bus? In Brazil, they have a novel way to train bus drivers not to get too close to cyclists:

Helping road planners better understand how bike accidents happen is also crucial. This year we learned how a combination of crossroad angles and car’s A-pillars have created the perfect deadly intersection for cyclists.

And this year Amsterdam’s city planners taught us how simple changes to a bicycle crossing improved efficiency.

Lastly, there was a very controversial debate on how getting rid of bike helmets might actually save lives.