Bike parking barns could be hitting American streets soon

According to news from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, one of the most unique and efficient forms of outdoor urban bicycle storage could be hitting cities across the United States. Fietshangar, one of the participants in a trade mission focussing on urban mobility, has signed an MoU with “two key partners in the United States” clearing the way for bike drums to hit the streets.

This outdoor urban bike parking corral is shaped to reflect a bicycle design, it’s constructed of steel, with steel mesh sides and a solid roof to protect our beloved two-wheelers from the elements, vandalism and thieves. They are fully enclosed with a high-security lock and gas spring arms for easy opening and closing. Those who have visited Rotterdam may be familiar with the fietsrommel, as it is known, or bike drum, as there are more than 1,000 in use across town, as well as in 30 other European cities.

In the United States, the units will be known as bike barns, and there is already a website to advance their use at BikeBarns.net.

These bike barns have a small footprint, but can hold four or six bicycles and lock securely as a permanent storage option for those needing storage outside their own living areas. Inside the units is a bicycle stand for locking individual bikes as the bike barns are shared with others.

According to Fietshangar, these secure bike barns are an efficient and much-needed part of the urban mobility solution. If one happens to live on an upper floor of a house, or small apartment building without secure bike parking indoors or underground, having and using a bicycle can be challenging. And that’s where the bike barns come in.

Residential property managers could place bike barns on apartment properties, or employers could get units to encourage employees to bike to work.

“No storage no bike. If the government wants to stimulate people to cycle, they need to do something about it,” said Fietshangar Managing Director Bart Wagemakers, in a video. “They need to provide a parking solution.”

Bike barns can be placed in a public space location that is easily accessible, and ideally close to a bicycle network. They are also placed in street parking spaces formerly used by automobiles, which we quite like. Turning over street parking spaces to new public uses is a move that is being embraced by forward-thinking cities such as Paris in a big way. Using a few parking spaces for bicycle storage seems a fine use of public space.

The Utrecht-based company Fietshangar has signed deals with Washington D.C.-based MetroBike (Distributor and Operator) and San Francisco-based Tranzito (Operator).

MetroBike, for one, operates the Capital Bikeshare in Washington, but also installs flange-mounted bike racks in the region.

Tranzito is described as “a new mobility operator that helps cities with micromobility, curbside management, and multimodal infrastructure.”