BIKE TOWERS PRESENT KEY TO AUSTRALIA’S SAFE, SMART CYCLING FUTURE
With cycling predicted to surge in a post-COVID environment, the present situation has motivated councils in Melbourne and Sydney to fast-track a range of cycling infrastructure projects across the urban hubs, including enormous stretches of new kerbside bike lanes and elevated routes connecting suburbs to CBDs.
However, one vital piece of this picture that has not yet been fully realised is the essential need for adequate end-of-trip storage facilities, enabling cyclists to complete their journeys in a modern, safe and streamlined way.
Smart Stackers’ are introducing the ground-breaking 24-hour Bike Towers, allowing bikes to be stored in a hygienic, safe and practical manner, providing an end-of-trip facility to create a holistic storage solution for cyclists.
Developed in Prague and widely used in Europe, Bike Towers are a modern innovation that support active mobility and urban sustainability. One Bike Tower stores up to 118 bikes, including 16 spaces for children’s bikes to encourage family recreational travel, and is the footprint of just four car parking spaces.
The towers also include space for cyclists to store helmets, bags and child seats, all in a safe and dry environment that fully protect against the elements and theft. They are solar-powered, well lit, CCTV monitored, hygienic and potentially effective revenue sources for councils and government through the placement of advertising and/or a usage fee structure.
The launch of the Bike Towers campaign in Australia is timely, as COVID-19 has encouraged more commuters to replace public transport with cycling to avoid crowded spaces. This much- needed infrastructure has the potential to revolutionise cycling and parking solutions in Australia as we move towards more renewable, revitalised public spaces.
“We are proud to introduce the bike tower model as a response to the need in Australia for high-tech, high quality and eco-friendly storage solutions,” says Smart Stackers CEO Rod McQueen. “We hope this revolutionary end-of-trip facility will encourage more Australians to choose cycling as their main mode of transportation.”
“In the coming months, as our focus turns to saving jobs, it would be a tragedy if we wasted that sacrifice by people returning to overcrowded public transport or choking our streets with more single use vehicles. The humble bicycle provides the answer to Australia’s transport problem.” says Bicycle Network CEO Craig Richards.
“We know that we can’t go back to packed trains and we can’t make congestion worse than it already is … creating more space for riding and walking is the only way we can come out of COVID-19.”
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FAST FACTS
- Since the first Bike Tower was installed in Europe in 2012, there have been zero break-ins and zero mechanical or infrastructural failures
- Each tower has an 8-9-hour power back-up
- Bike Towers last around 30 years before needing replacing/updating
- On the modelling to date based on European data for average occupancy per tower per day, the usage cost sits somewhere between $0.75 and $1.00 p/h to use a Bike Tower slot.
- Bike Towers’ glass is highly resistant, 8mm thick and laminated. Even if cracked with high force, it will hold together.