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Fietsenstalling Stationsplein
Utrecht, The Netherlands, is the home of the biggest subterranean bike parking in the world. This infrastructure is called Fietsenstalling Stationsplein and up to 12,500 bicycles can be parked here. It shows three levels, access ramps and direct connection to the Utrech train station. This 7,100 squared meters building costed 50 million Euros and received the Concrete Award and one the Architizer A+ Award in 2018.
Before building the Fietwenstalling Stationsplein, the former Centraal train station was an old, gray square next to Hoog Catharijne (a shopping center) and a big exhibition center as a legacy of the widely used urban style in Europe in the XX century. Fortunately, this urban style is being substituted. No only did the square name changed from Stationstraat to Stationsallee, but also it became in a spacious, ventilated new place for people with gardens and a fountain.
The Fietsenstalling Stationsplein counts with three levels, a workshop and round-the-clock vigilance. Moreover, it 1,000 public bikes are placed there so that if a visitor arrives in Utrecht by train, he or she can use one of such bicycles and move cheaply without polluting the city. Indeed, every level is dedicated to specific uses. Thus, public bikes are separated if you are a subscriber, long distance or sporadic user. The parking can be toured without stopping your bicycle thanks to ramps and screens at the end of every row in order for bikers to see if that row has empty parking spaces. A large canopy and openings in the exterior walls allow the parking to receive a lot of natural light.
This is a perfect example of bike+train intermodal mobility which is really inclusive since different actors from local authorities and pedestrians to transport company workers and, of course, riders were consulted in the process of designing the Fietsenstalling Stationplein.
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Traveling with your bike and…
Intermodality is a concept in which a combination of two or more ways of transport are used to go from point A to B. When one of the ways of transport is a bicycle it is important to be aware of how the other way of transport works, specific legislation and so on.
Today, I offer some information if you want to use your bike and:
– Plane: All the plane companies allow you to bring your bike, but it greatly depends on the internal policy regarding aspects like size, packaging or cost. Some companies define bicycles as “special” luggage, whereas others refer it as “sports equipment”. Anyway, read the plane company internal policy. One point to take into account is that your bike will travel in the hold and you need to dismantle it and use flanges to form a unique object. Then, put it inside a cardboard or plastic box. When you arrive to your destination, your bike will not appear on general conveyor belts, rather you will find it on separate ones. As it comes to ebikes, batteries above 100 Wh are considered dangerous goods, so you should send them separately or hire an ebike at your destination.
– Train: Hopefully in your country the situation is different than in Spain. Here, groups of cyclists complaint about all the difficulties they have when combining bike plus train not only at stations, but also when it comes to train carriages. In AVE, Alvia, Intercity Euromed and Avant trains, bikes must be inside a bag or box which the sum of height, width and fund should be 180 cm or less to be considered hand luggage. Otherwise, it is regarded as special luggage and has not overpass 120x90x40 cm. The AVLO trains follow the 180 cm rule, while the Ouigo trains allow your bicycle if it weights less than 30 kg and the object is as much as 120x90x40 cm. The biker pays extra money for the bike in both cases.
– Bus: There are a myriad of bus companies in Spain and some allow you to bring your bike by free whereas others demand you to pay up to 15€. In all cases the bicycle is packed with maximum measure being 120x90x40 cm.
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Juan Dual
Juan Dual is the kind of person who stops at nothing to enjoy life. He lost his stomach, colon, rectum and gall bladder due to a genetic disease which made him more prone to suffer from cancer. Whereas some people can become depressed under so devastating health changes, he took advantage of biking and humor to overcome problems. Indeed, he has a tattoo in his right forearm with the following message: Do not give much thought to things, rather do them.
After successfully being physically cured, he needed to cure his head. Everybody goes through tough issues and sometimes we forget the most important: We only have one life and must enjoy it. A simple and powerful idea. His bicycle helped him to avoid pessimism. The most difficult moment was when he started pedaling after all the surgery. Relatives and friends told him not to do sport sometimes because of fear or ignorance, or simply because love, but he disregarded them. Today he reckons that did the right thing and has rode mainly on Latin American countries and Spain.
As it comes to great trips, he follows the three days rule. He gives away everything he has not used in the first three days of route as a way to avoid overweight. Moreover, he recommends consulting everything about your desired great trip before starting it and do not be afraid asking locals for information.
