"DeinRadschloss" - Secure, digitally controlled cycle parking facilities in the Rhine-Ruhr public transport network (VRR)

VRR (network coordinator) and the cities of Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Ennepetal, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Krefeld, Langenfeld, Mönchengladbach, Monheim, Mülheim a.d.R., Oberhausen and Ratingen participated in the be supported by the funding call "Climate Protection by Cycling" of the National Climate Initiative (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety) (BMU) with the project "DeinRadschloss" ("Your CyleLock").

"DeinRadschloss" aims to promote environmental friendly intermodal and multimodal trips and the use of the bike as feeder to public transport. The project provides modern, high-quality bicycle parking facilities with digital reservation through an app at connection points to public transport in the VRR area.

By the end of 2018, more than 900 new secure parking spaces had been realised at 61 locations in the 14 municipalities. Both boxes for individual bicycles and collective parking facilities are used. An access point to an existing cycle station will also be converted and equipped with a "DeinRadschloss" access point. The total volume of the measures is about 4 million euros.

Under the brand name "DeinRadschloss", passengers can search for, book and pay for parking spaces via the internet and smartphone at www.dein-radschloss.de. After a one-time registration, the customer can use all "DeinRadschloss" facilities in the network area. To access the parking facilities on site, a public transport chip card can also be used. Various transport companies have already integrated "DeinRadschloss" into their apps. In order to achieve a higher utilisation rate and also enable occasional cyclists to use it, a short-term rental with daily or weekly bookings at all locations is offered.

To ensure that cyclists recognise the new boxes in all participating cities at first glance, VRR has developed a striking design together with a creative agency and in coordination with the municipalities. The lettering "DeinRadschloss" is combined with a stylised bicycle and a smartphone with a lock in an eye-catching word mark. In this way, the project partners also emphasise the central advantage of the network-wide system in the design: cyclists can conveniently book a space on the go via smartphone and do not need any other equipment apart from their chosen access medium to open the boxes or collection facilities. On site in the municipalities, pictograms with a local reference to the bicycle parking facilities are applied to promote identification with the city. Overall, the design is very concise with an eye-catching colour scheme so that users will always recognise the system both in the cityscape and online on the website.

Conclusion

An extrapolation of initial survey data showed that an annual emission reduction of more than 70 tonnes of CO2 equivalent can be achieved; the majority of this is accounted for by shifted car journeys. The majority of use occurs in commuter traffic.

Other municipalities can join the system with new bicycle parking facilities. The success of the project prompted VRR to promote investments in the construction of new facilities in the "DeinRadschloss" system in the future. Thus, the total number of parking spaces in this project could successively increase in the future. In addition, the qualitative further development, e.g. through the integration of a cargo bike or pedelec rental service, is also being examined. This should make "DeinRadschloss" an important component of a supra-regional network of mobile stations.