The Finnish city of Turku has launched three new pilot projects to help to promote cycling. The main idea behind the pilots is to facilitate bicycle parking, to provide new services and to encourage low-carbon mobility. The initiatives will run for four months and will be used to gather information to improve the development of further solutions to promote cycling in the city.
In September, the municipality selected the three companies that will operate the pilots. The companies were selected amongst the participants that presented many different innovative ideas during a competition conducted by the municipality earlier in 2021.
The first project will install three charging cabinets for electric bicycle batteries in the city by the end of September. These machines will monitor the batteries as they are charged, using heat and gas sensors that can automatically switch off the charging in the event of a leak. In addition, they can detect a fire and put it out immediately.
The second pilot will create an enclosed space where cyclists will be able to safely park their bicycles for €1 per 48 hours. The municipality promoted this as an ideal opportunity for cyclists who wish to park their bicycles for a long time, e.g. over a weekend, as they will no longer have to worry about theft and vandalism.
The final pilot will operate a system for the real-time monitoring and analysis of bicycle parking. This system will use technology to gather useful data on cycle parking demand, such as the utilisation of the parking areas, the duration of stays and the effects of the weather on bicycle use.
“The city of Turku has received many ideas for improving bicycle parking. With regard to electric bicycles in particular, there has been a need for both the possibility of charging electric bicycles and safe parking. The selected experiments meet the present needs”, commented Project Manager Stella Aaltonen.
Original article published by themayor.eu on 21 September 2021.
Sources
Details
- Publication date
- 5 October 2021
- Topic
- Walking and cycling
- Country
- Finland