In the inner city and at stations, there is insufficient room to park a bicycle. However, measures are being taken to deal with this, the administration assures. The problem is persistent: year after year, the message has remained the same. Meanwhile, new spaces are added, but bicycle parks may disappear as well. “Bicycle parking is the greatest challenge we face with regard to
bicycle policy”, says policy advisor Geert de Jong. “You can’t solve it just like that.” In 2006, the municipality for the first time conducted a survey among cyclists, which has since been repeated every year. In each edition, respondents say they are not satisfied with bicycle parking in the inner city and at stations. In fact, they have only become more critical over the years. Each year, measures are announced and progress has in fact been made. Guarded bicycle parks have been added in the inner city and floating bicycle parks have been created north of Central Station. Amsterdam further tries to do something about the shortage of bicycle racks by removing disused bicycles. Each year, districts remove 40 to 50,000 bicycles. “But at some locations, it’s banging your head against a brick wall.” At the longer term, ProRail plans to create three bicycle parks near Central Station, with room for 7,000 bicycles. Read on in
Nieuws uit Amsterdam
