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news
VelowspaceComing soon to a pavement near you: new automated bike parking
Automated bicycle parking could soon be on a high street near you, with two high-security Dutch designs due to be sold in Britain.
Falco, who already supply bicycle parking to businesses and government, hope to bring the futuristic bike lockers, originally designed for Amsterdam, to the UK.
Providing extremely high security storage without the need for a lock, the VelowSpace and VelowMinck keep bikes out of sight of thieves and vandals, but are unmanned and remotely monitored.
Originally developed for the Dutch Railways OV Fiets cycle hire scheme. The VelowSpace is based on a carousel, in which 24 bikes are effectively parked in a ring with their front wheel in front.
The bicycles are clamped into a patented front wheel clamp system with a 3-point lock that guarantees a stable and upright position for the bicycle. The VelowSpace could be used both for rental bikes as shown below with OV Fiets, or personal bikes.
The VeloMinck automatically parks bicycles further out of sight on another level to the user. The cycle is picked up and transported to a secure storage space and retrieved as and when requested by the cyclist, as requested using a personal swipe card or bar code, as seen below:
We highlighted just how ambitious these cycle parking schemes can be earlier this year when we reported how Utrecht Centraal railway station in the Netherlands is to get the world's largest cycle parking facility, with space for 12,500 bicycles.
Final plans for the scheme for the eastern entrance to the station have now been approved, with the facility opening in two phases - the first in 2016, with final completion two years later.
It will sit beneath a new square, closed to motorised traffic and lined with shops and cafes, and comprises three levels of cycle parking. A video has been released showing a CGI simulation, including how cyclists will enter and exit the new installation.
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Thank goodness for that. I don't suppose anyone would want you to. You certainly behave like one though.
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9 comments
That has got to be the most technologically advanced bike park system in the world
Am I missing something? Why are they automated? Why not place 24 bike lockers in a circle?
I suppose the only reason for it to be on a carousel would be access to your bike if space was tight but it appears to be an expensive solution to a simple problem.
Have a card and pin system that locks the door to a single bike enclosure. The system remembers the card and pin that was used to lock the enclosure and only opens to that card and pin combination. Then have many of those single enclosures next to each other. Put your bike in yourself. Much cheaper.
Question for all these solutions is how long will it take to fill up with bikes that no one collects after locking them up?
what happens when i put my bike in with 60mm carbon tubs and that metal prong stabs them on the multilevel storage? ...or should i know better than to put those kind of wheels in there?
How about we make subjectively safe streets the priority if there's money knocking around to spend?
London are now seeing the results of installing the bike hire scheme before making the city pleasant to cycle in (for everyone). Of course these kind of schemes and facilities are politically less controversial and they look exciting in the news, but in the end it's cart-before-the-horse-stuff.
Plus I won't be getting rid of my D-lock any time soon, and there are always railings around.
Japan had automated bike tower parking in 1988 and in 1995 we saw a 29-bike storage tower using the Falco vertical gas strut lifting system. The Dutch were using carousels in 1997, and then abandoned the idea, and biciberg (below ground) was being promoted in Spain at the same time.
The fundamental weakness for large numbers of cyclists parking is the level of service. At the 1995 demonstration it took the third cyclist in the queue nearly 3 minutes before they had parked or recovered their bike. It may work for bike dispensing at a hire point, and for residential blocks where everyone does not turn up to park or retrieve a bike at the same time.
The BBC recently reported how Japan are leading the way with cycle parking - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24960489
Worth a moment of your time to watch the video.
Looks great, especially since as gazza points out it reduces the need for a lock. Would be good to see one in the centre of London or Manchester, but you'd need an attendant of sorts. Perhaps next to a bike shop?
Peterborough?
These would be great across the UK at all places where large numbers go such as superstores and Town centres.
Would save having to lug locks which weigh nearly as much as the bloody bike & make cycling safer and more convenient for people