International Transportation (67) 2 | 2015 35 Bike Parking PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS Park and bike Selected solutions for bike parking Velowspace: Automated 24/ 7 bike rental system T he Dutch bike rental company OV- Fiets uses Velowspace, a fully automated rent-a-bike system with an integrated carousel, to increase the availability of rental bikes at railway stations and promote the idea of “green” mobility in urban areas. The system is currently in operation at 95 stations throughout the Netherlands. The system hardware consists of a fully automated carousel inside a round container for tethering up to 24 bicycles. Depending on whether the client wishes to collect or return a bicycle, the carousel turns a bicycle or a free space toward the automatically controlled door. After user authentication - based on different technologies such as Mifare cards, Skidata (bar-code), swipe cards and others - the door opens to give access either to an empty return cell or a cell containing a bike. For returning the bike, the user registers by means of the subscription card again and the system asks whether the bike is in good condition or needs repair. If the bicycle is defective, it will be blocked until repaired. Velowspace units installed at mobility hubs such as train station forecourts make it easier and more convenient for travelers to change from or to a bicycle, whether spontaneously or as part of their journey plans. The modular design is sufficiently flexible to allow for stand-alone installation or stacked configurations. red www.lo-minck.nl Wöhr Cycle - a tower full of bicycles W öhr Cycle is the name for the new technology recently developed by the company Wöhr, which is known as a supplier of automated car parking systems. The automated parking garage for up to 128- bicycles is available as tower or pit version. All standard bicycle types, including pedelecs of up to 30 kg, can be parked- securely and with minimum space requirements in the easy-to-use Wöhr Cycle tower. The user simply places the bike on a rail in the transfer cabin and enters the storage request at the user terminal. The system pulls the bicycle into the tower and closes the door. As the bikes are stored behind locked doors - and below ground for the pit version - vandalism and theft are practically excluded. For retrieval, users hold their chip up to the user terminal and the system selects the corresponding bike. After 16 seconds on average, the bicycle is available in the transfer cabin - with the front wheel to the front. Various operation and payment modes can be realized: Cycle towers installed on public squares can be equipped with terminals allowing different means of payment such as bank or credit cards, smartphone apps or special prepaid cards. For towers in a residential or office complex, every user receives a personal chip device, comparable to an electronic key or access ID, which is used to initiate any bike storage or retrieval transaction. red www.woehr.de