You probably already knew the Dutch are big into bicycling when it comes to getting around town. Tons of people in the Netherlands ride bikes - they bike everywhere, all the time.
And now more and more Dutch cities have impressive facilities to park all those bikes.
As pointed out by The Atlantic's City Lab, via the Bicycle Dutch blog, Delft is the latest city to have its own giant bike parking facility. It can hold 5,000 bikes, and if you add the outside parking, the total comes to a whopping 8,700 spaces for bikes.
"As part of the construction of a very pleasant new train station in the city of Delft, local authorities constructed a 5,000-space parking garage for bicycles, which opened this past February," City Lab reports. "Bike parking at the new facility is free for up to 14 days."
As City Lab writes, "This is how you create a viable and well-loved
While it's not without its problems - there is some bike theft that happens - it's a really impressive facility with lots of cool features, and we have nothing like it in the US.
Below are some highlights of the massive and efficient bicycle parking facility, via Bicycle Dutch, which notes that the "symbiosis of the train and the bicycle is very successful in the Netherlands. The train covers a lot of distance fast and the bicycle makes it easy to reach many destinations in the last kilometre."
This is the new train station in Delft, which houses the bicycle parking facility underground:
You can ride alongside the station on the bike path right down to the bike parking:
You can enter the facility by just pedaling right in:
Inside, everyone's just cruising around the huge space, which can park 5,000 bikes:
Just like at the airport, there are monitors that show the train schedule (there are even ticket machines to save you time):
There are just rows and rows and rows of bikes, all neatly parked:
Once you find an empty spot, just slide out the rack:
Lower it:
Place your front wheel in:
Roll your bike up, and then slot in the rear wheel:
Hydraulics make lifting the bike up just about effortless:
Slide your bike in:
Exit the facility, then head to the train or just be on your way:
Watch the full video below: