12,500 spaces and a cycling infrastructure with accessible, safe areas. The world's largest bicycle parking facility is in Utrecht, the Netherlands. And it is a true bike experience.
It is no coincidence that Utrecht is home to the world's largest covered bicycle parking facility, with no fewer than 12,500 spaces. Utrecht has for years been competing with Copenhagen and Amsterdam for the title of the world's most cycle-friendly city, while the Netherlands is recognised as the country with proportionally the highest number of cyclists. To put it into perspective, in Utrecht 60 per cent of people reach the city centre by bike every day.
The first phase of construction lasted around five years. The parking facility was inaugurated in 2017, but work then continued until 2019, when the final section opened, expanding the number of spaces from the initial 7,500 to the planned 12,500. The investment cost €45 million and represents a milestone in the city's decades-long journey, the product of a policy that has placed active mobility and the wellbeing of citizens at its centre. The firm that designed it is Ector Hoogstad Architecten, which conceived it as a promenade architecturale among trumpet-shaped pillars and large skylights.
The parking facility sits in the heart of the city and is directly connected to the central station.
This bicycle parking facility is spread across three levels connected by one-way cycle ramps, making them safe, and has a total surface area of around 21,000 square metres. A digital device guides cyclists directly to available spaces, and check-in takes place via the chip on the public transport card. Cyclists can park their bikes independently; the garage is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the first 24 hours are free. After that, the daily cost is €1.35, while an annual subscription costs €80.
Dedicated spaces are reserved for cargo bikes or other vehicles with dimensions different from those of standard bicycles. Inside, there are also services such as a bicycle repair workshop and a hire service, while illuminated panels near the two entrances show the number of spaces still available. The soft, welcoming lines that shape the spaces, the attention to materials, the choice of colours and wood, as well as the brightness of the parking facility, all contribute to making its use pleasant and safe; it flows seamlessly into the square above — a large covered public space with a shopping mall that allows people to move around even in the rain.
Passing through the U- has become an experience in itself, an attraction, one might say. Using cycling-world terminology that has spread internationally, one could say that this stationstalling is a true bike experience!
