News / Transport
Bike parks could replace cars in some car parks
An ambitious plan to take up space meant for cars in multi-storey car parks with space to lock bicycles will be one of the manifesto pledges of a metro mayor candidate.
As there is currently lots of unused space in the multi-storeys with many people still working from home, Stephen Williams said that “now would be a good time for a conversation” about switching over space from four wheels to two.
The former MP thinks that this could be free in council-owned car parks, with the likes of NCP perhaps levying a small fee for a lockable bike dock.
Williams said: “There’s always lots of chatter about cycle paths, road closures and other aspects of highway management. But this deals with only one of the barriers to increasing the confidence of occasional cyclists to ride more.”
Car park owners such as NCP could charge a fee of £1 for a lockable bike dock, thinks Stephen Williams – photo by Martin Booth
He added: “These measures would increase leisure cycling but the key to getting more people to see their bike as a mode of transport for shopping, leisure visits or commuting to work is the confidence that you can leave your bike for a few hours or the whole working day and find it’s still there when you return.
“Car theft was rife until the last decade or so but car security and car park security has seen theft rates go down. We need the same effort to see a big drop in bike thefts.
“We talk about cyclists getting a fare share of highway space, so why not a share of secure parking space too?”
Lib Dem candidate Williams said that multi-storeys “would be a good start” as they are fairly secure but also dry.
His plans also extend so that all park & ride sites and railway stations across the Bristol should also have covered and secure bike parking, with visitor attractions, gyms, pools, supermarkets and shopping centres having covered cycle parking, protected by visible and working CCTV.
Main photo by Martin Booth
Read more: New bike storage at Temple Meads branded ‘sexist infrastructure’
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