Some cities pour millions into cycle lanes but ignore the final meter. Finnish company Biketty Oy has found a large-scale bicycle parking solution.
The company’s primary purpose was to operate parking facilities and build car parks in the Finnish town of Seinäjoki. However, the city also considered it important to develop bicycle parking as part of its mobility solutions. When a new railway station and station district were built in the city, a bicycle parking facility was planned alongside the car park.
Also, Aalto University is committed to sustainable development and to promoting environmentally friendly, healthy modes of transport on campus. As part of this effort, two innovative Biketti bicycle-parking containers have now been installed on campus.
The company Biketty has solved this longstanding problem with a wooden bicycle storage solution. Cars are large, easily monitored vehicles that can be readily identified by their authority-issued registration numbers via camera-based license plate recognition. With cars, it is the vehicle itself that is monitored, rather than its user. “A bicycle has no such identifier, which makes it technically more challenging to sell short-term parking — for example, in intervals of minutes or a few hours. In large bicycle parking facilities, the only product on offer is often a monthly contract,” says Mika Mäntykoski, CEO at Seipark Oy, a parking services company owned by the City of Seinäjoki.
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Biketti bike containers offer a simple, safe, and convenient solution to cyclists’ parking challenges. They directly address the frequent feedback on better cycling infrastructure highlighted in Aalto University’s annual campus survey. With their innovative design, the Biketti units demonstrate the University’s strong commitment to sustainable transportation and to making everyday cycling a more attractive option for commuters.
The Biketti units come in various sizes, holding between 10 and several hundred bikes. They keep cycles secure and offer self-service access for repairs and cleaning.
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However, there is still room for improvement. Seipark’s goal is to develop a post-payment system for bicycle parking — similar to how car parking works — in which the fee is charged after the fact based on time used. According to Mika Mäntykoski, achieving this would appear to require additional investment and joint planning with Biketti Oy. “Instead of monitoring the cyclist, we would need to be able to monitor the movement of the bicycle in and out of the facility, just as we do with cars.”
“We use ethically sourced timber and have architects to ensure that our bike garages not only function well but also look good,” says Janne Kalliomäki, CEO of Biketti.
Large-Scale Bicycle Parking Solution in Finland, Tor Kjolberg reporting.