The city where I live doesn't have any bicycle racks, excepting at schools, as far as I know. But recently my wife and I went to the Garland Park and Ride to go to the State Fair of Texas (I go into Dallas only when forced to by circumstances and this was one). I saw something entirely new to me. There were what appeared to be fiberglass containers to park your bike inside of. It was a large lid which lifted back and the bike fit inside. Then it could be locked protecting the bike from the elements and thieves. I imagine the bike would get pretty warm in the Texas heat.

I found my explanation of these bike lids inadequate so if you would like to see what I'm blabbering about you can go to http://www.dart.org/riding/bike.asp for DART's bike rules. There is a video on the lids toward the bottom of the page.