Cities have always been focused on providing services to their citizens and tourists. In order to reduce traffic jams, it became standard practice for most urban planning to provide facilities for cyclists varying from bicycle paths and special traffic lights to bicycle parking near shopping centres and traffic hubs.
The current focus on Green Cities has enforced this focus on cyclists. Cities want to provide cleaner air, a greener environment and reduce pollution. Enabling safe and convenient cycling is a direct path towards achieving that.
The appearance of electrical bicycles is also contributing to an increase in the number of bicycles on the road. Where bicycles used to be taken for trips of 2 to 5 km, electrical bicycles have increased the acceptable distances to 10 km.
The increased use of bicycles does not only require a change to infrastructures such as bicycle paths or traffic lights, but it also means that at many more locations, cities offer parking facilities to prevent the blocking of streets and pavements by randomly parked bikes.
When looking for parking facilities, cities look at the following criteria:
- Number of parking places per square meter
- Convenience for cyclists
- Durability
- Integration with smart city solutions
On the path toward finding the right solution, cities and urban planners often arrive at Bike Parking 2.0 as the most efficient en convenient solution for durable parking management.
In this article, we will discuss the benefits that Bike Parking 2.0 offers for each of these 4 criteria.
1) The high number of parking places per square meter
Although we pride ourselves on the modern design and the ease-of-use for cyclists, the number one reason why cities choose Bike Parking 2.0 is the unmatched number of bicycles that they can park. On a stretch of just 10 meters, you can place over 50 bicycles.
In this example, the operator had the choice to double their free floor space or double the number parking places.
(click to enlarge)
Because bicycles can also be parked at a 30° and 45° angle, with Bike Parking 2.0 even narrow places, such as shops, can be transformed into high capacity bike parking locations. (see news post)
2) Convenience for cyclists
Convenience is the key to making sure that cyclists use the available parking places.
Bike Parking 2.0 makes parking easier in 2 unique ways:
- Piston powered Lifting Pillars
- Rail guided Sliding Racks
– Lifting Pillars
Our vertical lifting pillars do not only drastically reduce the floor space that is required for 2-level parking, but they also allow users to conveniently park their bicycles on the 2nd level. With Bike Parking 2.0 they can simply ride their bicycle into the lifting rack without having to lift their heavy bicycle. As one city parking manager said: “finally people will use the 2-nd level”.
– Sliding Racks
Every cyclist who is used to parking bicycles in a rack knows the problem of tangling steering handles and having to push bicycles aside to deal with baskets and side bags. Bike Parking 2.0 is designed to deal with that. Simply slide the adjacent bicycles aside and you can easily park or retrieve your bicycle.
(see news post)
3) Durability
Investments in urban infrastructures are done for the long term, another reason to choose Bike Parking 2.0.
Our first installations date from 2012 at heavy-duty locations such as traffic hubs and high schools.
Except for, when placed outdoors, an annual cleaning of the sliding rails from leaves, our durable aluminium alloy did not require any maintenance after installation. (see news post)
4) Integration with smart city solutions
Our Auto-locking systems with QR-code payment processing, as well as our real-time and historic Utilization Monitor are just 2 ways in which we help cities to provide more convenience while reducing costs.
– Auto-locking & QR-code payments
Every parking slot can be provided with a blue-tooth lock that can only be opened with the same phone (or by an operator). Our, or your own, back-office can provide free parking, parking fees per hour, per day, per week, or work with subscriptions. The system can be linked to your mobile payment processor so no staff is required to accept payments (for example in the evenings or at night).
– Utilization-monitor
Our optional sensor system is integrated with Google Maps so managers and the public can see on their phones where in the city bicycle parking is still available.
(see article on other products)