Bike station
Encyclopedia
Bicycle parking
Bicycle parking involves the infrastructure and equipment to enable secure and convenient parking of bicycles...
, and sometimes showers or lockers. Some bike stations are staffed and offer free valet parking during certain hours.
Operation
Bike stations are often operated by local bike shops or non-profit bicycle advocacy organizations, and often with monetary support from the municipality. More than half of the stations in the U.S. are operated (usually in partnership with a local business or nonprofit) by Bikestation.Attributes
A bike station has one or many of the following attributes:- Costs money to use (either through daily, weekly, monthly, or annual memberships). Sometimes non-members can pay for daytime locker use.
- Sheltered or indoor bike parking
- Lockers, changing rooms, and/or showers
- Bathrooms, drinking fountain
- Gate or door secured by key or electronic card access (this usually gives members 24-hour access)
- On-site staff during the day (at least one staff member is a bicycle mechanic)
- Free, valet bike parking for non-members (only at staffed hours)
- Free parking for non-members (not always sheltered or monitored)
- Parts and accessories for sale
- Air pump
- Information for people who bicycle: Pamphlets, classes, literature, brochures for bicycle safety, maps, or nearby points of interest
- Food and/or beverages, usually via vending machine
- Bike rental
High-capacity bike parking facilities become proper bike stations by offering at least one amenity, like valet parking, all sheltered spaces, and/or a guard.
Bike stations around the world
The following is a list of selected bike stations located in several countries around the world, often at train stations.- Australia
- Brisbane, Queensland - cycle2city, located at King George Square busway station in the CBDCentral business districtA central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
(also known as the King George Square Cycle Centre) - Brisbane, Queensland - RBWH Cycle Centre, located at the Royal Brisbane and Women's HospitalRoyal Brisbane and Women's HospitalThe Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital is a hospital located in the suburb of Herston in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.The hospital was formerly known as the Brisbane General Hospital.The hospital currently has a total of 948 beds...
in the inner suburb of HerstonHerston, QueenslandHerston is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 3 km north of the Brisbane CBD.- Geography :Herston is dominated by the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital...
- Brisbane, Queensland - cycle2city, located at King George Square busway station in the CBD
- Europe
- Germany
- DürenDürenDüren is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, capital of Düren district. It is located between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur.-Roman era:Celts inhabited Düren's area before the Romans. They called their small settlement Durum . After the Celts other Germanic tribes settled this area...
- MünsterMünsterMünster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
- Düren
- Netherlands
- Amsterdam - Photo of guarded bike parking at Amsterdam Zuid railway station.
- The Hague
- Den Bosch
- Spain
- Blanes - Biceberg system at the bus station.
- Huesca - Biceberg system on Av de Juan XXIII.
- Vitoria - Biceberg system at Club Deportivo Mendizorrotza, Vitoria-Gasteiz.
- Zaragoza - Biceberg system; one facility in Plaza San Pedro Nolasco, and a second facility in Calle Menéndez Pelayo.
- Germany
- North America
- Bikestation http://www.bikestation.com: Long Beach, Covina, Claremont, Santa Barbara, Palo Alto, CA, Washington DC, and Seattle WA. http://www.bikestation.com
- Chicago, IllinoisBicycling in ChicagoSince the advent of the bicycle in the 1860s, Chicago has been distinguished as one of the premier cycling locations in the United States, with such public cycling destinations as Grant Park, Burnham Park and the Chicago Park District's Lakefront Trail...
- The McDonald's Cycle CenterMcDonald's Cycle CenterMcDonald's Cycle Center is an indoor bike station in the northeast corner of Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city of Chicago built the center at the intersection of East Randolph Street and Columbus Drive, and opened it July 2004...
in Millennium ParkMillennium ParkMillennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
. - St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
- Located downtown at 10th & Locust.
- South America
- Mauá, São Paulo, Brazil, a suburb southwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Mauá train station on Line 10 of the CPTM. video of the bike station on Streetfilms. This bicicletário (bike rack in Portuguese) is operated by ASCOBIKE, or Assoçiâo dos Condutores de Bicicletas.
Construction costs
The bike station in Washington, D.C., opened in 2009 and cost 4 million US dollars for 1700 square feet (157.9 m²) of space and storage for 150 bicycles.The King George Square Cycle Centre in Brisbane, Queensland opened in June 2008 and cost 7 million Australian dollars. It has 33 showers, 420 lockers, and parking for 420 bicycles in two-level racks.
The RBWH Cycle Centre in Brisbane opened in November 2009 and cost AU$8 million. It has 40 showers, more than 900 lockers, and parking for 750 bicycles.