Bike Racks
Bike racks are located throughout campus, providing cyclists with a convenient place to secure their bikes. Bicycles should be locked to a bike rack using a u-bolt lock and cable combination. Please do not lock your bike to fences, signposts, disability ramps, stair railings, or trees.
Bikes locked in places other than bike racks may impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic and are subject to impoundment.
If you would like to park your bike at a building that doesn't have available bike parking, please send us an email to request a bike rack at bikes@osu.edu.
Bike Lockers
While bike racks are located throughout campus, providing cyclists with a convenient place to secure their bikes, the university also provides a limited number of bike lockers to the community.
Specifications
All 16 bicycle lockers are fully enclosed and made of durable stainless steel, offering protection from inclement weather. There is also room for your helmet, riding shoes, and other accessories. Locker dimensions: triangular footprint: 36" wide (at the widest point), 43" high, 65" long on the longest edge.
Location
Bike lockers are located east of the Lane Avenue Parking Garage, just north of the Fisher College of Business.
Rates
Locker rentals are $10 per month or $100 per year, payable in advance. Minimum rental period is 3 months. A refundable deposit of $40 will be charged for the key and lock core.
Customer Eligibility
All university affiliates, including students, faculty, and staff, are eligible to rent a bike locker.
How to Rent
Complete the bike locker application and rental agreement and make your payment.
Please note that bike lockers are rented on a first-come, first-served basis. If lockers are unavailable at the time of request, your name will be added to a waitlist until a locker becomes available.
Bike Locker Rental Agreement Terms and Conditions
Please read all bike locker rental agreement terms and conditions before renting a bike locker.
Temporary Student Bicycle Storage
Transportation & Traffic Management (TTM) is happy to assist students who are unable to take their bikes with them during Summer Semester and need a bicycle storage option until Autumn Semester resumes. To help protect bicycles that need to be left on campus for an extended period of time, TTM can store a limited number of bikes in a locked, indoor storage room for pickup when students return to campus in August.
If you are interested in having your bicycle placed in temporary storage, please complete the form below.
Bicycle Lock Cut Request Form
Transportation & Traffic Management can assist you if your bicycle lock is jammed, broken, or if you lost your key, and your bicycle is located on The Ohio State University Columbus campus. Please complete the form to submit a request for a bicycle lock cut.
Removal and Impoundment
In order to keep bike racks free from abandoned bikes, bikes are "tagged" and impounded regularly throughout the year. If bikes are left unattended for an extended period of time, it is presumed that they have been abandoned. To let bike owners know that their bike is considered abandoned and may be impounded, Transportation and Traffic Management hangs a bright tag on the bike's handlebars, indicating that the bike must be moved by a specific date. Abandoned and illegally parked bikes often impede pedestrian traffic and prevent routine maintenance in the area and/or reduce the number of available bike rack storage spaces. Please note that this also includes the summer, so students, faculty, and staff who do leave during this time are asked to find an alternate location to store their bikes for the summer. Bikes left during this time that are not moved will be tagged and then impounded by the date listed on the tag.
Please note that the locks have been cut during impoundment and a new lock will be needed. In addition, bikes are held for 90 days, but if unclaimed, then become eligible for disposal. For additional information, please visit bike impoundment.
Bike Impoundment Guidelines
The Ohio State University enforces bike impoundment policies on a regular basis. To avoid having your bike impounded, please follow the guidelines below.
Junk Bikes
Bicycles that are in a visible state of disrepair are referred to as “junk bikes.” If a bicycle has a flat and/or deteriorating tire(s), bent rims, rusted or broken chains, frozen brakes, cables, or shifters, it may be determined as junk and be tagged for removal. Tagged bikes will be given seven (7) days from the date of being tagged to be removed from the bike rack before impoundment. Impounded bikes are stored in the TTM impound facility and held waiting owner pick-up for 90 days. After 90 days, the university has the authority to sell, surplus, destroy, recycle, or otherwise dispose of any removed bicycle.
Abandoned Bikes
To keep bike racks free from abandoned bikes that decrease the available bike rack storage spaces, bikes are tagged and impounded regularly throughout the year. If bikes are left unattended and have not moved for an extended period of time, it is presumed that they have been abandoned. To determine whether a bike has truly been abandoned and to let bike owners know that their bike may be impounded, Transportation and Traffic Management (TTM) hangs a bright tag on the bike's handlebars, indicating that the bike must be moved by a specific date. The date written on the tag is seven (7) days from the date of being tagged. If the bicycle has not been moved to a new location on the bike rack or the bike owner has not emailed our department at bikes@osu.edu to notify us that the bike is not abandoned within seven (7) days, it will be removed from the bike rack and impounded. The bike will be stored in TTM's impound facility and held waiting owner pick-up for 90 days.
Please note that items such as locks, wheels, and helmets left and locked on the bike racks also may be considered abandoned and subject to impoundment. These items also will be tagged and removed after seven (7) days if still present.
Bicycles in Violation
Bicycles may be parked and locked at only designated bike racks. Bicycles parked and locked anywhere else may be subject to immediate impoundment without being tagged.
Some examples of areas not to be used for bicycle parking include:
- Bike share racks
- Landscape areas (trees, plants, mulch beds, etc.)
- Hardscape areas (walkways, signs, fences, lampposts, building, etc.)
- Safety areas (disability ramps, fire hydrants, stairways, railings, etc.)
- Places that block or impede the normal flow of traffic or emergency personnel on a roadway, street, alley, sidewalk, mall, patio or parking area
Bike Rack Removal for Construction Projects
Occasionally, construction projects on campus will require bike racks to be removed and relocated. When this is the case, bikes will need to be moved prior to the rack removal or they will be impounded. Typically, a notice of three (3) or more days is given to bike owners by placing signage near the area of the bike rack and/or bright tags placed on the bike noting date of removal. If the bicycle has not been moved by the date of the bike rack removal, it will be issued a citation, removed from the bike rack, and impounded.
Summer Removal
Students, faulty, and staff who leave campus during the summer are strongly encouraged to find an alternate location to store their bikes for the summer. TTM operates a summer abandoned bicycle abatement program by collecting all bikes left at the university as abandoned during the summer months. This sweep cleans up unwanted and abandoned bikes left on campus, clogging busy bike racks, and helps prepare the campus for the new student arrivals in the autumn. This large-scale abatement normally occurs a week or two after Spring Semester. Bicycles will be tagged as abandoned and given two (2) weeks to be moved. Bicycles not moved after those two (2) weeks will be impounded and issued a citation for abandonment, removed from the bike rack, and impounded. The bike will be stored in TTM's impound facility and held waiting owner pick-up for 90 days.
Emergencies
In rare cases, bicycles may need to be removed without notice because of campus emergencies. Bicycles removed for emergencies will be impounded and held for safekeeping in the impound storage facility awaiting owner pick-up.
Bike Recovery
If you think your bike may have been impounded, please contact Ohio State's Transportation and Traffic Management office at 614-292-7433 or e-mail ttminfo@osu.edu. Please note that the locks have been cut during impoundment and a new lock will be needed.
To claim a bike, owners will need to provide proof of ownership (bike lock key, sales receipt of bike purchase, etc.), show a photo ID, complete the paperwork, and make payment for the citation. After 90 days, the university has the authority to sell, surplus, destroy, recycle or otherwise dispose of any removed bicycle.
Transportation and Traffic Management is not responsible for the cost of locks, chains, other security devices, or any other item that may be damaged or destroyed as a result of removing any bicycle, including incidental damages that may occur to the bicycles during the impoundment process. Transportation and Traffic Management has no responsibility or liability to replace or make compensation for such items.