The CCU garage provides several cycling-friendly facilities to accommodate colleagues who come to work by bike. These include a convenient and protected bicycle parking space close to the entrance, and a bicycle repair stand at the back of the garage. However, these facilities are in need of expansion and renovation to keep up with the rapidly growing number of staff at CCU, limited car parking spaces and recent incentives by municipal, health and environmental organisations that encourage cycling to work.

 

The bicycle parking taskforce aims at refurbishing and expanding the current bicycle parking space in the CCU garage. Currently, this space consists of 35 simple metal gratings which provide support to a single wheel of the bike.

 

This situation is problematic for three reasons.

• First, the capacity is insufficient: the space is always full, and cyclists must resort to leaving their bicycles unsupported or unlocked. There have already been reports of damaged bicycles due to overcrowding.

• Second, the current facilities risk damaging the bikes. The Portuguese Federation of Cycling Tourism and Bicycle Users recommends that bicycles be supported at two or more points. Insufficient support puts pressure on sensitive parts of the bicycle (such as disk brakes) and allows bicycles to lean to one side, risking damage to the spokes as well as adjacent bicycles.

• Third, the metal gratings do not allow for secure locking of the bicycle. It is recommended to lock both the frame and one wheel to a fixed structure. The current supports only allow the locking of a single wheel, offering poor protection against bicycle theft.

 

We therefore propose to expand the current facilities to double the capacity and provide a safe bicycle storage space. To achieve this, we have put forward three proposals tailored to our budget and space constraints. These proposals are summarised in the table below, and consist of 1) a two-tier rack, space saving option, 2) simple Sheffield option that is cost-effective but requires additional space and 3) a combination of the above, though at reduced capacity. In addition, we propose to replace the metal gratings near the bicycle service station at the back of the garage with a safer, more appropriate Sheffield system. 

 

Bicycle parking has been a hot topic amongst CCU researchers for years, and with Lisbon being Green Capital 2020 and VeloCity 2021, we think this is the perfect time to modernise our bicycle parking facilities and show the world how green CCU can be!