Bicycle racks and rails

Equal access
Requirements for the integration of equal access for all users
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines ‘premises’ as the whole of the built environment and includes existing buildings, new or proposed buildings, transport systems, car parks, pathways, and public parks and gardens.
Note: Consult an access consultant accredited by the Association of Consultants in Access Australia (ACAA).
Elements required for equal access
- Embellishments must be designed in accordance with AS 1428 Design for access and mobility.
- Bicycle rails located in public places should not be placed in pedestrian desire lines. If rails are not set back from primary pedestrian accessways then TGSIs are to be installed as per AS/NZS 1428.4.1.
- Ensure that bicycle rail slabs are connected to a continuous accessible path of travel (CAPT) to enable equal access for people who use wheelchairs. Ensure that the path of travel is connected to an accessible car park space.
- Install bicycle rails so that the minimum clear passage for pedestrians between a parked bicycle and any other obstruction is 1.2 m (where possible).
- Install bicycle rails in consistent locations for ease of recognition by people with vision impairment.
- When retro-fitting a bicycle rail, consider the location of existing embellishments. If there is insufficient circulation space, a new location may be required.
- Avoid finished height difference between a concrete slab and adjoining surfaces to prevent trip hazards and to prevent ‘tramlining’ of pram, bicycle and wheelchair wheels.
- Use a sign panel integrated into the bicycle rail (tapping rail) where the rail is located near a continuous path of travel, in order to alert white cane users to the presence of the bicycle rail.
- White cane users sweep the cane along the ground in a 180 degree angle to detect obstacles. Where there is no horizontal tapping rail, they may walk straight into the bicycle rail.
- Consider other bicycle requirements such as recumbent bicycles and tricycles (nominal 2.0 m long x 1.3 m high x up to 1.0 m wide) when designing bicycle rails.
Visual/sensory wayfinding
Where bicycle rails are installed adjacent to public accessways they should have a colour contrast to the background surface to enhance detection by people with low vision.
- For people with a vision impairment, provide a minimum 30% luminance contrast between objects and the background they are viewed against, for ease of identification.
- Where luminance contrast may not be achieved (such as grey aluminium furniture on grey concrete), luminance contrast can be addressed by introducing colour into the ground surface providing a minimum 30% luminance contrast with the embellishment base, resulting in the embellishment being more visible for people who have low vision.
- Consider designing nodes with a contrasting coloured concrete, or a variation in surface texture, to enable people with a disability to identify the location of embellishments along a pathway.
- Where BPDs include a tapping rail consider reflective colour contrast bands and information signage to enhance detection by people with low vision.
- It is preferred that any colour contrast bands are not reflective tape but permanently coloured, or coloured, patterned stainless steel bands.
See Figure 5: Tapping rail and coloured banding.
Figure 5: Tapping rail and coloured banding

This component is currently in development