This summer, the city of Toulouse is experimenting with guarded and free parking for bicycles on a site in the city center. The operation ends this Saturday, August 21. Its aim is to encourage the use of bicycles in the city center and to fight against wild collisions with street furniture. For cyclists, she is especially interested in the scourge of bicycle theft.
To encourage cycling in the city center, Toulouse City Hall is currently experimenting with free guarded bicycle parking. Since July 3, a 120-space car park has been made available to cyclists along the Musée des Augustins, at the entrance to rue d’Alsace Lorraine, on the rue de Metz side, every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. . A contract has been made with the company Wheelskeep until this Saturday, August 21.
For the Toulouse town hall, the objective is to promote bicycle access to the city center and its shops and limit the hanging of bicycles on unsuitable urban furniture. For users, the challenge is also to protect their bikes from theft as noted by Mathieu Labey, founder of Wheelskeep.
Cyclists especially want their bikes not to be stolen
“All cyclists have problems parking but above all they want to find their equipment and the feedback shows us that the issue is more sensitive in Toulouse than elsewhere. Moreover, it is for the moment the only city in which we have had an attempted theft. The users who come to drop off their bikes clearly tell us to do so because we are there (Wheelskeep employs 4 to 5 people in rotation for these operations). Parking lots with surveillance cameras are no longer a deterrent and bicycle parking lots are quickly becoming public spaces in which anyone can enter. “.
Read also :
Man caught by police cutting bicycle lock with grinder at station
Read also :
Bike theft: Toulouse will strike back
Each time you enter the site, the guard asks for a cell phone number and takes a picture of the bike. When exiting, he asks for the phone number again, checks if the bike matches the photo and validates the exit with a 4-digit code received by the cyclist by SMS. No need to install an app.
Wheelskeep counted a hundred users per Saturday. “It may not seem like much, but if we convert 100 car parking spaces we reach an area of 3000 m2! And the carbon footprint is also very favorable. The demand is there, especially for weekdays, ”emphasizes Mathieu Labey.
The evaluation may allow the operation to be carried over to events or other sites. This summer, Wheelskeep deployed its folding hoop device on 8 beaches in the Basque Country.
Read also :
Toulouse: the scourge of chainsaw bike theft
–
