The Rotary Club of Cupertino’s Climate Action Committee has initiated an exciting new public-private partnership with the City of Cupertino and the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission, in collaboration with the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, to install artistic bike racks around the city.
The goal of the project is to beautify the city and support local businesses. The artistic bike racks will be provided free of charge to the city’s businesses and installed by Rotary volunteers. The Rotary Club is also working with the City of Cupertino to install racks in some of the Cupertino Parks.
One of many designs available…click here to see many more!
The germ of the idea started when the City of Cupertino set aside $50,000 to install new bike racks on city right-of-way (i.e. streetside) locations more than a year ago. Bicycle Pedestrian Commissioners and Walk Bike Cupertino members both recommended not only reviewing the locations — as bike racks close to the front doors of businesses are used much more than those at the curb of busy streets — but also considering using artistic bike racks to add functional ‘art in unexpected places’ to Cupertino. The Rotary Club of Cupertino’s Climate Action Committee then stepped up to offer additional funding and volunteer labor to make these artistic racks possible. The Chamber of Commerce joined the project to support local businesses and connect them to the Rotary team.
Walk Bike Cupertino board members biked extensively throughout the city and created a detailed list of both existing locations with bike racks and locations that could benefit from bike racks. This list was the starting point for the team.
A subcommittee of the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission — Chair Hervé Marcy and Vice-Chair Joel Wolf — took the detailed list created by Walk Bike Cupertino and narrowed it down to the top 15 most impactful locations. Businesses are being contacted and locations on city property are being confirmed with city staff.
For artistic bike racks on city property and in city parks, the Cupertino Bicycle & Pedestrian Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission and Arts and Culture Commission will be reviewing and approving the designs being installed.
Are you a business that would like a bike rack?
Are you a local business or commercial property owner who is interested in getting a free artistic bike rack? The process is easy and simple. Just email Seema Lindskog at rotarybikeracks@gmail.com to get started.
Why Artistic Bike Racks?
Bike Riders are Good for Business
As we’ve written about before, bike riders are good for local businesses. They come more often and they spend more money per month on average than other customers.
Bike racks help to attract cyclists to local businesses. Artistic bike racks are even more noticeable and effective because they attract pedestrians and other residents as well.
Cupertino small businesses are struggling and many have not yet recovered from the Covid years. With many employees in the city still working from home several days a week, small businesses are reporting significant economic headwinds. Just this week, the Counter on Stevens Creek Blvd announced it will be closing its doors.
Artistic bike racks might help bring some much needed media and resident attention to our local businesses. As shown in multiple studies, bike racks and bike lanes near businesses measurably increase the amount of business that merchants receive.
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Encourage local shopping & dining
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Increase customer visits
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Increase number of sales per customer
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Increase convenient customer parking
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Increase business visibility
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Bring positive media attention
Cyclists Contribute to a Thriving Community
A hallmark of a healthy city is seeing residents — families, students, young professionals, seniors — walking and cycling in the streets, whether to get to work or school, run errands, or shop at local businesses.
Residents out and about in the city contribute to a thriving community and bring many benefits.
- A sense of place
- Social interaction
- Community engagement
- Increased foot traffic
- Improved air quality and community health
A great way to make your business more memorable
An artistic bike rack installation in front of your business is a great way to create positive media and customer attention.
There are hundreds of designs available to choose from — sharks, dinosaurs, coffee cups, firetrucks, and more. The Cupertino Rotary is also happy to develop a custom design in partnership with the local business, for a small fee. Sizes range from 2-4 bikes to 6-8 bikes.
Creativity at work here
I love the creativity at work in this project!!
we love it too, Ann! We hope to see these artistic bike racks sprout up around town soon.