About Bike Theft >The Problem >
Response Strategies

3. Improving parking furniture

Furniture to which bicycles are secured doesn't always promote secure locking. Locking practice and poorly designed furniture may inadvertently escalate the risks of bike theft. For example, a typical way that cyclists secure their bicycles to U-shape (∩) Sheffield stands makes bikes vulnerable to rotational leverage. Johnson, Sidebottom and Thorpe (2008) describe a number of prototype bicycle parking stands designed to improve the security of cyclists locking practices.

In the case of the M-stand (right) the design removes the opportunity for cyclists to park on the cross bar and thus improves locking practice, such as securing both the wheels and frame to stand. Evaluation assessing the impact of M-stands found significant improvements in cyclists locking practice compared with bikes locked to Sheffield stands, indicating that changes in the parking furniture positively influenced cyclists’ behaviour in a way that would increase the effort needed to steal bikes.