Amsterdam cycling advocate Marjolein de Lange regales us with this tale about how in 2006 cyclists came up with a very simple solution -- draw bike box outlines directly on the pavement! -- to better organize the bike parking outside a popular supermarket. It's so simple and shows how sometimes engineers might over-think a problem.
Marjolein tells us these are now common in many shopping areas in Amsterdam and other cities. Although I will add that this only works well in cities where nearly all bikes have kickstands.
