The next time you’re out on a bike ride, think about where you might safely park your bike out of view of possible thieves. And no, I don’t mean if you’re just pulling up to your local coffee shop after a morning ride. More like, where would you leave your bike if you were a commuter or tourist?
Suppose you needed to park your bike for the day so you could take a train to a town farther away for work or pleasure? Well, Amsterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands, according to an article on the Nice News website, have supplied an answer. Both cities built parking garages (just for bikes) right next to their main train stations.
About Amsterdam’s Central Station (Stationsplein) Bicycle Garage
The facility was opened in 2023 and offers storage free of charge to 11,000 bicycles. The garage was constructed in two connected but separate parts. One part of the garage is above ground and can store 4,000 bikes, and the other part of the garage, which was built under the Open Havenfront canal, holds an additional 7,000 bikes.
The city of Amsterdam states that the garage “…can be reached by a slow escalator without steps. The garage is connected with the metro hall and Amsterdam Central Station. Once inside, travelers can comfortably walk without detours to their choice of public transportation.”
The city built this bicycle garage to address the problem of so many bicycles being parked around the main train station. By erecting a garage dedicated to bicycle parking, Amsterdam hoped it would create more space for travelers, commuters, and pedestrians.
Amsterdam: A Progressive Hub for Change
A large percentage of the people who use Amsterdam’s Central Train Station arrive there by bike. Amsterdam (and the Netherlands in general) is a significant hub for cycling. In fact, 32% of the city’s residents choose bicycle transport as their primary mode of transportation.
The problem with all those cyclists is where can they safely park/ store their bikes. Amsterdam’s public areas are overcrowded because of this, so the city responded with this new garage.
Garages Created with Function and Beauty
A lot of thought and planning went into these two garages as well as a lot of money. The Stationsplein parking garage took 12 years to build and cost $54 million. The reason for that high cost is that the garages aren’t just empty, dimly lit spaces where bikes can be parked wantonly.
The garage has “curved columns and double-stacked bicycle rows” along with artwork on the walls. In each row, there are electric ramps so cyclists can easily park and then retrieve their bikes.
Cyclists can park/ store their bikes free for 24 hours. They check in their bikes using a public transport card or a tag attached to them. “With the tag, cyclists can easily and quickly check in and out at the parking facilities without having to take out their public transport card. Cyclists only have to walk past the check-in pole. This comes in handy if you are in a hurry. A parking subscription can be linked to the bicycle tag.”
Another feature of the Stationsplein garage is that cyclists are made to feel important and not a nuisance. The garage offers cyclists a bike shop where riders can buy accessories or, if necessary, get a quick repair.
Not In Amsterdam But Want to Take Public Transport. There’s Also a Bike Parking Garage In Utrecht.
As already mentioned, cycling is a huge activity in the Netherlands and the preferred way of getting around the main city centers for tourists, commuters, and other travelers. That’s why Utrecht, a town 30 miles south of Amsterdam, also has a dedicated garage/ parking for bicycles.
The Utrecht garage, however, was built in 2019, before the one in Amsterdam, and can store even more bikes: 12,500! Why is that, you might ask? Utrecht Central Station is the “largest public-transport hub in the Netherlands.”
In addition to the garage, there is an additional area dedicated to bicycle parking around the train station and the Utrecht city center, which brings up the number of “high-quality” bicycle parking spaces to 22,000! But the garage itself is considered the largest bike parking facility in the world.
Access to the garage works in much the same way as the one in Amsterdam. In fact, the Amsterdam garage was most likely modeled after the one in Utrecht. Cyclists check in and out with their public transport card. The garage is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, with the first 24 hours being free.
The City of Utrecht website says cyclists don’t just park their bikes anywhere that’s open, but a digital system guides them “to free parking places in the bicycle parkings. This system helps authorities enforce the parking policy and regulations.”
Last Thoughts
Building dedicated parking areas for bikes illustrates how important cycling is to Amsterdam, Utrecht, and the Netherlands. It also shows that not only the Netherlands but also other areas of Europe, such as Denmark, care about preserving the environment for future generations. In the end, fewer cars, trucks, and buses mean cleaner air and a healthier population with less impact on the climate.
You might wonder how the Netherlands became such a bicycle-friendly country. It occurred because of citizen protests in the 1970s to the government that there needed to be safer and separated bike paths away from cars because of the rise in traffic deaths. If only governments in other countries listened to their citizens like in the Netherlands, the world certainly could be a better place.
Have you been to Amsterdam or Utrecht? Have you biked around either city? Please like, share, and comment if you enjoyed this post.
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