40% of Dutch train passengers arrive to the station by bike, and cycling is still on the rise — so it is no surprise that when you deal with railways you should keep an eye on cycling, too. Last Sunday I went to Haarlem to check out what they claim to be the biggest guarded bicycle parking facility in Europe.
 Four wheel-guiding rails lead cyclists from the square to the parking (Photo: Daniel Sparing) |
 Two level bike racks are available in 18 rows (Photo: Daniel Sparing) |
A bicycle parking lot is often symbolic — if well designed, it can notify the passersby that cycling is not only tolerated but certainly encouraged in this city, and it guarantees a certain continuity to this policy with a building designed for 50+ or so many years. See Amsterdam or Alphen a/d Rijn, for example. This can even be true for underground bike parkings, if the portal is well designed, as at Amsterdam Zuid or in Eindhoven.
Well, the Haarlem underground bike parking is certainly not symbolic — its entrance is visually hidden in the new station square (also hosting new bus platforms). Although some facade is planned for the backside of the station. But with 5050 new places, huge it is.
 The parking under construction under the station square |
 When finished, the square will also offer more pedestrian space |
 High-density bike racks (Photo: Daniel Sparing) |
 Thanks to a spring mechanism it is not at all that difficult to put a bike "upstairs" (Photo: Daniel Sparing) |
 Through the cardboard wall, the parking will be directly connected to the train platforms (photo: Daniel Sparing) |
 The project includes further 1100 surface places |
Thanks for this post. I’ve not been to Haarlem in ages, but it’s good to see what’s going on.
There’s a largely symbolic “bicycle parking lot” (or bike station) in Chicago at Millennium Park, essentially an outdoor art playground that cost $400+ million dollars (the majority of it donated by corporations).
The bike station has free bike parking during business hours, 24 hour bike parking (and showers and lockers) for members, bike repair, and bike rental.
However, it’s not located in an area where use would be maximized, or the largest number of people would see and recognize it. It’s hard to find within the park, and it’s only useful for the handful of office buildings across the street.
I think that there were certain forces in play that got the bike station get built there that wouldn’t have gotten it built anywhere else. But we, the city, should be hard at work building the next bike parking lot or bike station at another location, like a train station. Where bicycles are stolen day and night, sitting uncovered and exposed.