Edinburgh to increase on-street cycling parking as waiting list nears 500 cyclists

THE City of Edinburgh Council is to roll out increased on-street cycle parking in a bid to ensure that living in a flat does not become a barrier to owning or storing a bike.

The local authority contracted Cyclehoop Ltd to begin installing covered bike storage containers around the capital in January 2019, with the intention of providing and maintaining 180 units – equating to 1080 bike parking spaces – over the five year contract.

The local authority said that the units already installed have an occupancy rate of 91% (591 users) and around 476 people on a waiting list, with requests having been received for units at 206 new locations – with an average of 14 requests per week.

As a result, the council has approved proposals to increase the scope of contract with Cyclehoop to add an additional 50 locations per year over the next two years of the programme.

Councillor Karen Doran, transport and environment vice convener, said, “We know that living in a flat or small house can be a barrier to owning and storing a bike, which is why we began installing secure cycle storage in 2019. The take-up so far has been fantastic, and we’re constantly hearing from people who would like a unit in their neighbourhood. So it’s great that we’ll now be able to roll the scheme out further, in a fair and inclusive way.”