If you want bicycles, you have to provide space for them. Yet many cities struggle with this.
Bicycles are transforming the streetscapes of major cities worldwide. By creating dedicated cycling lanes, many cities aim to attract more cyclists into their centres. But that alone is not enough. Parking facilities, as well as their security and the services provided also play a crucial role. The Danish architect and urban planner Jan Gehl, author of „Cities for People”, never tires of emphasising: „You get what you invite in. If you invite cars, you get cars. If you invite bicycles, you get bicycles, and with them a livelier, healthier city.” Gehl is thus addressing the issue of bicycle parking facilities, a topic often neglected by many urban planners.
In recent years a number of examples for effective bicycle parking have been built: Utrecht in the Netherlands and Tokyo in Japan are leading the way. In the Dutch university city, more than 12,000 bicycles can be parked in the so-called „bicycle shed“, which is located beneath the train station. The three-storied mega-parking facility also has 480 spaces for cargo bikes and tandems. A cycle path runs through the 350-metre-long car park, and cyclists can directly access the platforms from the lower level to catch their respective trains. This makes it the largest bicycle facility in the world. By way of comparison, the Japanese capital is home to the second-largest bicycle park, with 9,400 spaces.
„Glimmers of hope, which only serve to highlight the dilemma faced by many major European cities”, says Karl Grünberg of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club e. V. (German Cyclists’ Association, henceforward abbreviated as ADFC) in Berlin. Where do European cities stand, and what milestones have already been reached? Karl Grünberg sees excellent prospects for the future of two-wheelers: „The combination of train and bicycle is unbeatable for commuters looking to travel in an environmentally friendly, healthy, flexible and speedy manner.“
However the reality is often quite different and not just in Germany: „Anyone arriving at a station by bike often cannot find a decent and secure parking space,” criticises the expert from the ADFC. In Germany alone there is a need for around 1.5 million additional bicycle parking spaces at stations. The figures derive from a study by the Federal Ministry of Transport. Although around 400,000 spaces have been added over the past six years, „there still is a shortfall of over a million parking spaces for bicycles,” according to Grünberg.
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