In Copenhagen there are more bicycles than citizens. Even though bicycles require much less space than cars, they still take up a lot of space in the streets. Consequently, a great deal has been done to make good parking facilities available to cyclists all over the city.
The city provides and maintains thousands of cycle stands of various sorts at stations, main shopping streets and other areas lived in or frequented by large numbers of cyclists. Finding space for the many stands can be difficult, but innovative thinking has made it possible to make the most of what we have, for example, by extending street corners to make room for cycle stands.As a citizen or shop owner you can apply to the City of Copenhagen for permission to set up a cycle stand on the sidewalk or roadway outside your address, space permitting.
Bicycles without owners take up space not only in cycle stands but also at many other locations where the space could be used for better purposes. Consequently, unused bicycles are regularly removed from the streets.Every year we run clean-up campaigns in which cardboard figures of “Bike Vultures” are placed on old, abandoned bikes to warn the owners that this machine will soon end up on the scrap heap. When the campaign is over and hundreds of bicycles have been removed, we often set up public cycle stands on the free space. This results in fewer carelessly abandoned or illegally parked bicycles, benefitting everyone.
Our satisfaction surveys show that Copenhagen cyclists are interested in getting better parking facilities for their bicycles. For this reason we are testing other solutions than the traditional cycle stands , for example rackless parking facilities. These are specially designated areas reserved for ordinary bicycles with a kickstand. We are also testing parking spaces for the many carrier cycles which are difficult to find space for on the pavement. In addition, the city has developed and purchased mobile cycle stands that can be set up for special events.
