Bonn bicycle parking garage

The city of Bonn inaugurated the first fully automated bicycle parking garage on December 12. Read more about the new parking facility at Beuel station here.

“We want a CO2-free Bonn”, announces the city as part of the “Emission-free city center” campaign. It is a big goal, but the climate crisis requires decisive action. Bonn therefore wants to make it as easy as possible for its own population to contribute to this goal. To this end, it is currently concentrating on three key measures. Firstly, the construction of mobile stations, then the construction of cycle routes and finally the conversion of the city’s vehicle fleet to electromobility. Following the successful inauguration of the mobile stations around a year ago, a new bicycle parking garage has now been built at Beuel station in collaboration with and under the direction of the municipal utility company.

“It is another building block in the mobility transition in Bonn,” emphasizes Lord Mayor Katja Dörner. Bonn’s first intelligent and fully automated bicycle parking garage was officially opened on December 12. The system comes from the Swiss manufacturer V-Locker and will offer the possibility to park your own bike at the mobility hub of Beuel station in a theft-proof, dry and inexpensive way. “This will make the use of environmentally friendly means of transport even more convenient, which in turn will benefit all road users in Bonn,” explains Lord Mayor Katja Dörner.

The system is very simple. Potential users can use the app to book a space in one of the bicycle parking garages in advance while on the move or from home. Opening, closing and ending the rental process on site is controlled with just a few clicks on the cell phone. The app can also be used to check whether there is still a free space available in the parking garage. The parking garage offers space for a total of 96 bicycles. To fit into the approximately 0.4 square meter boxes, the bikes must not weigh more than 30 kilograms. Furthermore, the handlebars must not be wider than 73 centimetres and the bike must not be higher than 113.5 centimetres or longer than 190 centimetres.

If you meet these requirements, you can park your bike in the Bonn bicycle parking garage for as little as one euro per day. Longer rental periods are also possible, with prices falling the longer the box is rented. The price is five euros for a week, 15 euros for a month, 60 euros for six months and 90 euros for a whole year. To avoid long queues at peak times, the bicycle parking garage has a total of eight access portals. The offer could be particularly attractive for commuters who change to public transport at the station and do not want to leave their – high-quality – bike outside.

However, the city is aware that parking facilities – which are inexpensive but not free – cannot be the only solution to the problem of bicycle parking in the city. That is why, in addition to the pilot project at Beuel train station and three bicycle parking garages of the same design, other free parking systems are also being implemented in the district. “It is still important to offer simple and free parking spaces for bikes of all kinds. Only in combination with other parking spaces and systems can an accessible, attractive Beuel city centre be created,” emphasizes Beuel’s district mayor Guido Pfeiffer.

Bonn residents should be able to use the bicycle parking garage at Beuel train station before Christmas. It will then become clear what effect it will have on the city’s mobility transition.

You can read about what other cities are doing for the transport transition here, using Munich and the mobility station as an example.