The Port Authority wants to be more bike friendly and we have the perfect place for them to get started: install bike parking at the Harrison, NJ, PATH station.

According to an internal bulletin from March (seen here at WalkBikeJersey), “the Port Authority supports bicycling as an important and sustainable mode of travel. It seeks to provide its customers, tenants, visitors and employees with safe and convenient bicycle access and secure bicycle parking at its facilities, wherever operationally and financially feasible.”  Agency staff will be compiling and submitting “bicycle master plans” to Executive Director Chris Ward’s office by September 30 of this year.

The Harrison PATH station serves a high volume of bicycle commuters, but has no bike parking.  Multiple sources indicate that a major deterrent to potential bike commuters is lack of a safe, secure parking spot at the destination.

At Harrison, bikers lock to whatever is available — mostly to the railing that separates the sidewalk from busy Frank E. Rodgers Blvd under the PATH tracks.   On the morning these pictures were taken, an average Monday in June, bikes filled both sides of the railing from end to end.  A handful of bikes were locked to the rail on the east side of the street as well.  In all, nearly three dozen bikes crowded the sidewalk under the station.

Expect even greater usage in the future. The station is central to a formerly industrial neighborhood that hosts the new Red Bulls soccer stadium and is the the object of major city redevelopment plans. The Port Authority eventually plans to reconstruct the station (it had to remove the project from its near-term capital program due to lack of funds), but that redesign does not yet include bike parking.

After the jump, some details from the PA memo, which suggest other ways the authority could accommodate cycling:

The Board also authorized the Executive Director to take the following steps to advance the goals of this policy:

• Integrate improved bicycle access, safe bicycle lanes, and secure bicycle parking and storage into existing Port Authority buildings and facilities owned or operated by the Port Authority.
• Ensure that design guidelines for new construction and major renovations include sufficient bicycle access, storage, and related amenities to meet emerging demand.
• Develop multimodal transit hubs that encourage biking and walking.
• Remove any unnecessary restrictions on bicycle access, and promote the safe coexistence of motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians at Port Authority facilities.  [i.e. the Authority’s bridges]
• Encourage tenants to expand bicycle access and accommodations.
• Coordinate bicycle facility improvements and intermodal connections with regional planning organizations, other regional transportation providers, and local governments to promote safe and seamless travel throughout the region.

Photos: Kyle Wiswall/TSTC.