How the Dutch Mastered Bike Parking at Train Stations
A decade ago, the Netherlands began building a national network of bicycle garages integrated with rail stations. Here’s how that investment has paid off.
Utrecht’s train station can hold 22,000 bicycles — the largest bike garage in the world.
Photographer: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu via Getty Images
If there’s such a thing as “bike parking porn,” the Netherlands seems to inspire the bulk of it. On YouTube, fans of cycling infrastructure can marvel at a broad selection of video tours through cavernous bike garages in places like Rotterdam, Amsterdam and especially Utrecht, a city of 362,000 whose train station provides spots for 22,000 bicycles, the largest such facility in the world.
These monumental garages have become integral to the Dutch transportation network: Over 400,000 people — more than 40% of all train passengers — bike to a station every weekday.