On Tuesday, December 12, Stadtwerke Bonn, together with the city of Bonn, opened the first fully automated bicycle parking garage at Beuel train station. The structure, which consists of lightweight modules, offers 96 bicycles a safe and dry parking space. Bonn residents should be able to use the parking garage at Beuel station before Christmas.

At the opening of Stadtwerke Bonn's first intelligent bicycle parking garage, Mayor of Bonn Katja Dörner and Beuel's district mayor Guido Pfeiffer tested the functions of the parking facility together with the Managing Director of Stadtwerke Bonn, Olaf Hermes, and the Managing Director of SWB Bus und Bahn, Anja Wenmakers. It became clear how easy it is now to park a bicycle in a theft-proof, dry and cost-effective way at a central location such as Beuel station. The system comes from the Swiss manufacturer V-Locker.

"Following the inauguration of the mobile stations almost exactly a year ago, I am delighted that we can now inaugurate the bicycle parking garage here at Beuel station in cooperation with and under the direction of Stadtwerke as a further component of the 'Emission-free city center' funding project," says Mayor Katja Dörner. "It is another building block of the mobility transition in Bonn - 96 bikes can be parked here in a very space-saving, safe and dry place. This makes the use of environmentally friendly means of transport even more convenient, which in turn benefits all road users in Bonn."

For Beuel's district mayor Guido Pfeiffer, both bicycle parking garages are an important building block for modern mobility in Beuel. "They provide safe and clean parking for a wide variety of bikes. As part of the current mobility offensive, they improve the accessibility of Beuel city center. They are not the only solution to the bicycle parking problem. It is still important to offer simple and free parking spaces for bikes of all kinds. Only in combination with other parking spaces and systems can an accessible, attractive Beuel city center be created."

Olaf Hermes, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Bonn, added: "The city and Stadtwerke are working closely together on the mobility transition, because only together can we achieve our goal of climate neutrality by 2035". He also pointed out that the companies within the Group had worked together on the bicycle parking garage.

SWB Energie und Wasser, SWB Bus und Bahn and Bonn City Parkraum GmbH (BCP) are all responsible for the project. "With the bicycle parking garage at the main station, BCP already has expertise in parking high-quality bicycles. BCP is part of the solution when it comes to achieving a better flow of traffic in Bonn," says Hermes.

"With our new service, we are once again making it easier to switch from cycling to public transport - the bicycle parking garage is a real milestone for Bonn's transport system. We are delighted to have achieved this together with the city of Bonn," says Anja Wenmakers, Managing Director of SWB Bus und Bahn. The mobile stations that opened a year ago have been very well received by customers, with many long-term tenants. "This is also possible with our bicycle parking garages," says Wenmakers.

Bonn residents can now park their bikes safely before continuing their journey by bus or train. "We are also working towards climate neutrality there: step by step, our bus fleet will be converted to electric drive by 2035."

Using the app, it is possible to book a space in one of the bicycle parking garages in advance while on the move or from home. The rental process can be opened, closed and ended with just a few clicks. Users must register beforehand, and V-Locker offers an app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) that shows whether boxes are available. Bonn residents should be able to use the parking garage at Beuel station before Christmas. Integration into the SWB app BONNmobil will take place at the beginning of 2024. A bicycle only needs the space of a towel in the parking garage, i.e. around 0.4 square meters.

For a bicycle to be parked in one of the boxes, it must not weigh more than 30 kilograms. It is important that the handlebars are no wider than 73 centimetres, the bike should be no higher than 113.5 centimetres and no longer than 190 centimetres.

The parking process only takes a few seconds. There are a total of eight access portals so that customers do not have to wait long at peak times.

During the booked period, customers can access their box several times, for example to put groceries in the bike basket. In addition, family members and friends can also be given access to the box via a sharing function.

The booking can be paid for by credit card, GiroPay and PayPal. The prices are the same as for the bike boxes. One day costs 1 euro, one week 5 euros, one month 15 euros, six months 60 euros and one year 90 euros.

Stadtwerke Bonn is building a total of four bicycle parking garages in the City of Bonn. The bicycle parking garage at Konrad-Adenauer-Platz is due to open this year - 72 bicycles can be parked there.

The parking garages at Stiftsplatz and Frankenbadplatz are also to be built by the beginning of the year. These will then be put into operation in January 2024. A total of 280 secure parking spaces will be created.

The entire bike house project is part of the  "Emission-free city center" funding project, which is jointly supported by the City of Bonn, SWB Energie und Wasser and Stadtwerke Bonn Verkehrs GmbH. The European Regional Development Fund and the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs are providing financial support.

For Stadtwerke Bonn and the developer of the V-Locker bicycle parking garage, this is a pilot project. No other city has ever built four bicycle parking garages at the same time.