At Amsterdam’s Central Station, a large underground bicycle Car parking garage Recently opened, reported. the edge
The building has 6,300 spaces for individual bicycles and an additional 700 spaces for bike shares to support the first or last mile of a rail trip. After the second garage opens in February, it will be able to fit about 11,000 bicycles.
outside of The Netherlands, the four-year, $65 million project may seem absurd, but in Dutch cities, it’s just another day at the office as they slowly but surely turn private autos into a relic of a defunct past when towns was designed with cars in mind, not people. the brain
Statistics consistently show that 35% of Amsterdammers and 50% of Utrecht residents use bicycles daily.
A time-lapse video released by the city of Amsterdam shows the construction of this engineering marvel. Workers first had to drain water from the 19th-century station before setting up massive columns driven in by barges to support the garage floor and roof that would eventually be submerged.
About half of the 200,000 daily visitors to Amsterdam’s Central Station come by bicycle. The other half is reached by train, ferry, tram, bus and subway.
They used to park in many of the unorganized above-ground bike racks that still exist around the station and will be moved out in the coming weeks, the outlet reports. Locals see them as smelly monuments that often have no open spaces, partly due to the large number of abandoned bicycles, despite the fact that the largest of them is so large that it It has become a tourist attraction. As a result, regular commuters risk impounding their bikes by locking them to adjacent trees, street lamps and signposts, or by placing them on any free slab of concrete, increasing the likelihood of them being stolen. .
The brand new underwater parking structure is spotless and has definite 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes, at least for now, said Thomas Ricker. the edge. He observed several dozen OVFiets bike shares and possibly a few hundred personal bicycles available for rent within the facility, staffed around the clock. The facility is also staffed hard by the daily cleaning staff and a few friendly staff members are on hand to explain how everything works.
The first 24 hours of parking in the garage are free; After that, it costs $1.46 per day. This makes it convenient for people who commute every day and acts as a powerful incentive for people to get rid of their bicycles faster.
The entrance above the underground garage is designated by a large blue sign and bicycle logo, making it visible from a considerable distance.