Originally Posted by
The Human Car
While the racks can be used any way you like as long as space permits such use, but they are designed for the bike to be parallel with the rack. Design guidelines do allow for the bike rack to be installed parallel to the curb.
That doesn't make sense though. If something has the ability to be more effective - ie. able to hold more bikes - doesn't it make sense that, that is the way it is designed for. The kicker here is if that upside down "U" was an upside down "W", people wouldn't lock their bikes parallel to it, because it would clearly be "hogging" a multi bike, bike rack and I don't think your average biker would do that.
My inane, idiotic, dumb point in all of this, is with the removal of the all of the parking meters in the city, and all the more bikers we now have, it makes sense to get the most bikes per each rack...and right now, that doesn't happen. (I rarely see more than one bike per one of those racks.). And I think it's because of the orientation of the racks, because instinctively bikers when pulling out of traffic, on to a side walk, will continue in the same direction they are going and would lock their bikes up if the rack was simply turned.