Parking policy

Parking policy is a relatively new phenomenon . The original and still prevailing aim is to prevent bicycle theft by providing good bicycle parking facilities. In the Netherlands bicycle parking facilities are in actual practice the main weapon in the fight against bicycle theft (see als under Theft). The impact of bicycle theft on the size of bicycle traffic is probably great. Various studies reveal less bicycle use and particularly the use of old, badly maintained bicycles due to the fear of theft: Wrecks for fear of theft (Barrels uit angst diefstal). Badly maintained bicycles that are therefore badly and negligently treated. In this way poor bicycle parking facilities lead to badly maintained bicycles and ‘imperfect bicycle parking behaviour’: Bad stands and naive cyclists (Slechte rekken en naïeve fietsers).

Besides theft, vandalism or damage in general may be prevented or reduced by providing good bicycle parking facilities  At the same time bicycle parking policies nowadays are also aimed at another issue: preventing hindrance to other users of public space. Badly parked bicycles are an eyesore to many - the more so for those that are obnoxiously parked.

Guidelines for local parking policy have been provided in the CROW-manual Guide to bicycle parking. This is increasingly an issue for local authorities. See for an extreme example the situation in Amsterdam, where bicycle parking  has grown to become almost the heart of bicycle policy: Deciding in favour of cyclists (Kiezen voor de fietser). In many cities attention mostly centres on concentrations of parked bicycles, in Town centres and near Train stations.