Bike station

A bike station, bicycle center or cycle center is a building or structure designed for bicycle commuters that typically requires users to join as members in order to use secure bicycle parking, 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 CBD (also known as the King George Square Cycle Centre)^[2]
  • Brisbane, Queensland - RBWH Cycle Centre, located at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in the inner suburb of Herston^[3]
• Europe
  • Germany
    • Düren^[4][5][6]
    • Münster
  • Netherlands
    • Amsterdam - Photo of guarded bike parking at Amsterdam Zuid railway station.
    • The Hague
    • Den Bosch
  • Spain
    • Blanes - Biceberg system at the bus station^[7].
    • Huesca - Biceberg system on Av de Juan XXIII^[7].
    • Vitoria - Biceberg system at Club Deportivo Mendizorrotza, Vitoria-Gasteiz^[7].
    • Zaragoza - Biceberg system; one facility in Plaza San Pedro Nolasco, and a second facility in Calle Menéndez Pelayo^[7].
• North America
  • Bikestation [1]: Long Beach, Covina, Claremont, Santa Barbara, Palo Alto, CA, Washington DC, and Seattle WA. [2]
  • Chicago, Illinois - The McDonald's Cycle Center in Millennium Park.
  • St. Louis, Missouri - 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^[8] for 1,700 square feet (160 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^[9]. It has 33 showers, 420 lockers, and parking for 420 bicycles^[2] in two-level racks.

The RBWH Cycle Centre in Brisbane opened in November 2009^[9] and cost AU$8 million. It has 40 showers, more than 900 lockers, and parking for 750 bicycles^[10].

References