Bike parking heat map

Posted on December 17, 2010 by .
Pin It submit to reddit

Cycling Parking Heat Map enables visual comparison of bike parking density around the world.

Gregory Williams created a cycle parking heat map that shows the bicycle parking available around the world. His map view defaults on a view of Canterbury, England, but if you zoom out you can see a nice comparison between bike parking around the world.

As you can see, Europe is white hot with bike parking, while the United States just has a few scattered blooms of bike parking warmth.

Heat map compares density of bike parking facilities around the world

Gregory takes his bike parking data from the OpenStreetMap project, which might explain part of the difference — OSM users seem to be much more active in Europe and especially in the UK. Remember, if you have bike racks in your neighborhood, adding them to OSM involves just a few clicks and a drag and drop. Gregory’s heat map also makes use of the ‘capacity’ tag, so be sure to note how many bikes your local bike racks can take.

Cycle Parking Heat Map here.

(Note: Yes, I edited the map to remove a big chunk of the Atlantic ocean so the image would fit on the web page.)



See also:

  1. Heat and hyponatremia
  2. Add bike racks to OpenStreetMap
  3. Doh!
  4. Caltrain: More bike parking


  • Rach

    This is cool but it’s confusing to have white mean both an abundance of bike parking and a dearth. Maybe black for no bike parking?

  • http://www.cyclelicio.us/ Cyclelicious

    I agree, but I think that’s a function of how far I zoomed out on the map for the image capture. For closer zooms, there’s a slight difference between no racks and many racks.

  • Andy

    Neat. It’s pretty clear from OSM cyclemaps that the euros are putting way more on there (or just have way more to put on there anyway). I love the hot spot on Ithaca! I’m only half done too. I did notice that as I zoom in closer, the blob translates several times, showing racks all over the place that don’t actually exist (and go away as you zoom).

    I’m curious what sorts of programs use this bike parking data. OSM itself doesn’t even show it unless you turn on the “data” box, but even then, everything is just a green circle. Are there sites you’ve found that search for nearest bike rack? I haven’t searched around yet.

  • Peter

    UK cyclists can use http://www.ParkThatBike.info to comment on cycle parking in their area. By visiting http://www.ParkThatBike.info people can identify places where cycle parking is needed, report existing cycle parking that is damaged or vandalised, and flag up wheel-benders, slotted slabs, and other horror stories.

    The site uses Google mapping and satellite views to let users mark the location precisely. People can comment on cycle parking both on-highway, in public spaces, and at key destinations such as railway stations, leisure centres, libraries, surgeries, etc.

    All the comments and suggestions are collated and submitted to the relevant local authority. At a time of spending cuts when budgets are under pressure it’s important that councils spend their money wisely, and that infrastructure is installed where there is a clear demand.

    Visit www,ParkThatBike.info site and get better bike parking in your area!