According to assistant principal Jerry Berkson, the Paly administration expects to have four new bike racks in place within a month, creating a total of twenty more loops for students to lock bikes to, with more to follow later.

A likely spot for these new racks is the dirt strip between the auto shop and the math building, Berkson said.

Upperclassmen have noticed an increase in crowding.

“When we were freshman, you could come at the bell and still get a spot,” senior Austin Wang said. “Now you get there at the bell and have to spend at least five minutes looking for a spot.”

Junior Bradford Thorne said, “There needs to be more [bike racks]. It’s always been bad, but the larger class size hasn’t helped.”

Berkson cited locking bikes in places other than racks and accidentally locking bikes together as other indicators of overcrowding, saying that, as class sizes grow, Paly will need to be able to accommodate all student bikers.

Freshman are already feeling the effects of crowding. When someone had locked a bike to his, freshman Ryan Wong was distressed and said, “I think there should be tons more [bike racks] – they are full even when I get here early.”

According to Berkson, the main challenge with the new racks is finding some place suitable to install them. He said the new racks would be on the south side of the campus because there is no space to put them near the racks by the arts building.

The outskirts of campus won’t work either.

“We already have theft, so to have the racks on the outer part would be tough to keep an eye on them,” Berkson said.

For students who find that someone has accidently locked his or her bike to theirs, Berkson offered some instructions.

“Come to the office, we’ll cut the lock, and store the other bike,” Berkson said.