Bicycle parking garages often have a problem: after long planning, elaborate construction phases and cer-emonial inaugurations, cyclists are expected to quickly adopt the newly built refuges. However, these expec-tations are often disappointed. The media and audit offices in particular complain that bicycle parking gar-ages are underutilised, that money and space could have been used better.
The often-used bon mot "build it and they will come" does not appear to hold true in this case.
We argue: the wrong users are targeted. Those who already park their old and simple bicycles at the station will continue to do so openly and unsecured at the bike racks on the station square. It’s fast, it’s habit and best of all: it’s free.
The focus should rather be on those who still drive to work by car and are afraid to leave their expensive (e-)bicycles (already possessed or yet to be bought) unprotected at the station.
How can these new users be addressed instead?
The proposal: cooperation with employers at the destinations of the commuter routes. First, employee surveys are conducted to find out where employees are travelling from. If there is a bicycle parking garage and a railway line on their way to work, e-bikes should be made available free of charge during campaign weeks in order to make the advantages of the cycle-rail combination tangible and thus encourage the participants to switch.
Targeted information campaigns for car drivers in commuter-cities can also help to make the possibilities of protected and comfortable bicycle parking known.
The government-funded “Competence Center Bike Parking” at Deutsche Bahn supports municipalities dur-ing planning, building and operating bike parking facilities. We will present and discuss lessons learned from implementing pilot projects to address the aforementioned challenges. – Build it and make them come!