Bicycle locker
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A bicycle locker is an enclosed storage unit meant to secure one bicycle. The interior of each locker is typically triangular in plan, to accommodate efficiently the wide handlebars of most bicycles.
Bicycle lockers often face a harsh environment, exposed to weather, fire, theft, storage of unauthorized goods, and even homeless encampment. Recent locker designs have included walls made of metal mesh in order to address some of these risks.
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[edit] Exclusive access lockers
Exclusive access lockers are leased, typically secured with a conventional mechanical lock. However because not all users will cycle every day, some spaces will typically be unused.
[edit] On-demand lockers
With an on-demand or shared system, cyclists park in the next available locker. Such a scheme may be combined with a reservation system, where a locker is exclusively booked a few hours prior to use.
Statistics from the BART rail system suggest that the effective capacity of an on-demand locker bank is 5 times higher than a similar sized exclusive locker bank.[citation needed]
[edit] Open-access lockers
Open-access lockers are provided with no locking mechanism. Users are expected to bring their own lock, and remove it when they have finished using the locker.
[edit] Bike Tree
An unusual form of the on-demand locker is the Bike Tree. When a user presents an access card a, a motor lowers a hook from the top of the tree. The front wheel of the cycle is attached to the hook, and a motor returns the hook to the top of the tree. The system was pioneered by Bicycle Tree International, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, a company which has ceased business operations.
