Fact sheet Bicycle parking at public transport hubs

For cyclists, finding a space to park their bicycle in crowded bicycle parking facilities takes a great deal of time. Or they simply leave their bicycle behind where it is not permitted. As a result, the attractiveness of areas surrounding a public transport hub is reduced. To deal with the growing shortage of bicycle parking spaces at public transport hubs, many municipalities are expanding the number of bicycle parking spaces at railway stations. More bicycle parking facilities are also now available at public transport hubs such as bus stations, underground stations and tram stops. There is little information about the effects of these latter types of bicycle parking.

Accessibility effects

New bicycle parking facilities at public transport hubs are for the most part used by cyclists who in the past parked their bicycle at some other (crowded) location. In that sense, this measure is mainly aimed at making the entire journey chain more attractive for existing passengers rather than attracting new passengers.

When the bicycle parking facilities at Utrecht Central Station were expanded, a rise was also observed in the number of instances of rush-hour avoidance [1]. The rule of thumb that can be derived from that effect is that in covered and supervised bicycle parking facilities, every 100 new bicycle parking spaces generate two additional instances of rush-hour avoidance per day. For bicycle parking facilities that are not covered and not supervised, the accessibility effect is two instances of rush-hour avoidance per day for every 300 bicycle parking spaces.

This difference in effect is mainly caused by the fact that commuters tend to return more often to covered and supervised bicycle parking facilities. Because these rules of thumb are based on just one study at one (very busy) location, they must be applied with care.

Sustainability effects

For the replacement of one car journey in the rush hour by a public transport journey, we assume an average journey length of the public transport journey in the rush hour for home-work travel to be 24 kilometres. For each instance of rush-hour avoidance, on average the following emissions are saved:

Variables affecting effects

One important variable is the location of the public transport hub. In an urban environment, the bicycle is an attractive means of getting to the transport hub because it is often the fastest option. The necessity to realise bicycle parking spaces depends on the current bicycle parking pressure and the occupancy levels of existing parking facilities at the public transport hub. Bicycle parking pressure relates to the ratio between the number of parked bicycles and the number of bicycle parking racks in an area. Occupancy refers to the ratio between the number of bicycles parked in the racks and bicycles parking racks in an area.

The effectiveness of bicycle parking facilities can be increased by installing an HBF (Enforcement for Use of Bicycle Parking) system. In an HBF system, the bicycle parking facility is fitted with sensors that register the presence of bicycles. Passengers can then easily see whether there are spaces are available, and where they are. In addition, abandoned bicycles can easily be traced. As a result, up to 10% fewer bicycle parking spaces are needed and the searching time for finding an unoccupied bicycle parking space is reduced by thirty seconds [2]. The presence of HBF systems in various bicycle parking facilities also offers the possibility of informing cyclists en route of the availability of free spaces at specific locations by means of a bicycle notification system [3].

Another influencing factor is whether the bicycle parking facilities are paid or free. The current growth in high-quality free parking facilities means that paid facilities are not (any longer) fully used. The consideration for municipalities is that providing free parking means less nuisance from illegally parked bicycles in public spaces and hence lower enforcement costs for removing and storing abandoned bicycles. At present there is insufficient knowledge about behaviour change among cyclists if forced to pay for bicycle parking [4] to allow these considerations to be thoroughly assessed.

Costs (including VAT)

The total installation costs for a bicycle parking facility for an unsupervised, uncovered facility range from €350 (for more than 200 spaces) to €440 (for fewer than 100 spaces). For a covered facility, the costs range from €820 (for more than 150 spaces) to €1,420 (for fewer than 40 spaces). With a supervised facility in a building/cellar/bike flat, the costs range from €1,000 (in an existing building) to €3,300 (cellar).

On top of these installation costs are annual management costs for each bicycle parking space. These amount to approx. €12 for unsupervised facilities and around €35 for supervised facilities. An HBF system costs €100-€125 for each space for installation, and approx. €5 per year in management costs. For more cost reference figures, consult the Menu for Bicycle parking facilities at stations [5].

Variables affecting costs

• the land price for a bicycle parking facility in a large town or city is generally higher than in smaller municipalities
• the complexity of the building (the more complex the facility, the
  higher the costs)
• the number of bicycle parking spaces (the more spaces, the lower
  the costs per space)
• single or double-layer racks.

More information

See https://wegwijs-beterbenutten.nl/fiets

Sources consulted

1. Programma Beter Benutten (Optimising Use Programme) Midden-Nederland Monitoring en evaluatie Eindmeting MNBB16: ‘Kwaliteit OVT Utrecht’ (Quality of Public Transport, Utrecht) MNBB25: ‘Fietsparkeren OVT Utrecht’ (‘Bicycle parking, public transport Utrecht’ )(GoudAppel, 2014)
2. Maatschappelijke Waarde en Investeringsagenda Fietsen Verantwoordingsrapportage (Social Value and the Cycling Investment Agenda, Accountability report) (Decisio 2016) - http://tourdeforce2020.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/verantwoordingsrapportage.pdf
3. Utrecht eerste stad met fietsverwijssysteem (Utrecht, the first city with a bicycle referral system) (Goed op Weg, 2015) - https://www.goedopweg.nl/nieuws/utrecht-eerste-stad-met-fietsverwijssysteem
4. Maatschappelijke kosten en baten van de fiets (Social costs and benefits of the bike).. Quick scan (Decisio, Transaction Management Centre, 2012)
5. Menu for Bicycle Parking at stations (ProRail, 2013). An up-to-date table of costs has recently been added to the Fietsberaad website - http://www.fietsberaad.nl/?repository=menukaart+fietsenstallingen+bij+stations
6. Evaluatie Actieplan Fietsparkeren bij Stations Eindrapport (Evaluation of the Bicycle Parking Action Plan at Stations, Final Report) (Kwink Groep, 2015)
7. Factsheet Fietsparkeren (Bicycle Parking Fact Sheet) (MuConsult, 2014)