S.F. is getting a new kind of bike parking next year

San Franciscans will get a new safe bike parking option in the Yerba Buena area early next year: bike sheds, or half-cylinder-shaped metal sheds that lock along the curb.

The colorful hangars, which will cost 5 cents an hour and are already placed in two places – at Fourth and Minna streets by the Metreon, and at Howard and Second Streets – are part of a two-year pilot project supported by the mayor of London Breed meaning. to provide a safer bike parking option, said Stephen Chun, spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

“Its goal is to provide shared, limited access, and medium-term bike parking that is more secure than our current short-term bike parking,” Chun wrote in an email. It will also “increase the perspective of the bike and the micro-mobility culture of the city,” he said.

The city currently offers short- and long-term bike parking options throughout the city. Short-term parking includes on-street bike racks and on-street bike corrals, which are multiple bike racks in one on-street parking space. Long-term parking, which is provided by SFMTA as well as agencies like BART and Caltrain, includes bike lockers in city parking garages and near transit stations.

The new bike sheds, which SFMTA partnered with the Yerba Buena Community Benefits District and the company BikeLink to deploy, are intended to be shared like a garage within a building, Chun said. To use it, people need to get the eLock / BikeLink app, which will give them access to the hangar.

Once you open the door, which has a hydraulic assistant to make it easier to open and close, people can put their bikes inside. SFMTA recommends that people also use their own bike lock for extra security. The team is also working on an interactive panel on the hangar that will provide ADA accommodation and access for those without a smartphone.

For the pilot, SFMTA will keep track of usage with metrics such as the number of rentals per day and average length of stay, as well as safety and turnover, to determine if the hangars are suitable for the city, Chun said. The agency will also collect qualitative feedback from users to determine areas for improvement.

In a statement, BikeLink, which has also partnered with SFMTA on seven bike locations in the city, said bike sheds are “ubiquitous” around the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, but they have not also caught in the United States.

“SFMTA is always thinking outside the box to improve bike and pedestrian access around San Francisco,” the company said.

The hangars, which can fit 12 standard-size bicycles, are decorated with wraps designed by local artists, Chun said. They will go through additional testing before opening to the public early next year.

Reach Danielle Echeverria: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @DanielleEchev