Amsterdam’s underwater storage has 7,000 bikes and nil vehicles

Perhaps someday flying vehicles and jetpacks would be the hallmarks of futuristic cities, however at present – in 2023 – it is large underwater bike parks just like the one which simply opened at Amsterdam Central Station. The construction has house for six,300 private bicycles and an additional 700 for shared bicycles to facilitate the primary or final mile of practice journeys. Capability will increase to 11,000 bikes when a second storage opens in February.

The four-year, €60 million (about $65 million) mission may appear unusual to anybody outdoors the Netherlands, however it’s enterprise as common for Dutch cities, that are slowly however methodically reworking private vehicles in relics of a mistaken previous – a time. when cities had been constructed across the wants of machines, not individuals. Heck, there’s a good larger underground (however no underwater) bicycle storage within the metropolis of Utrecht, able to accommodating 12,000 two-wheelers. In a rustic the place bicycles simply outnumber residents, knowledge persistently reveals that round 35% of Amsterdam residents use their bikes each day, rising to 50% of Utrecht residents.

A timelapse launched by town of Amsterdam reveals this engineering marvel below development. Staff first needed to drain the water in entrance of the 19th-century station earlier than laying the storage flooring and putting in big columns, transported by barge, to help the roof that can ultimately be submerged.

An estimated 200,000 passengers arrive at Amsterdam Central Station day-after-day by practice, ferry, tram, bus and metro – round half arrive by bicycle. Historically, they parked in lots of the messy above-ground bike stalls that also encompass the station and are scheduled to be eliminated within the coming weeks. Whereas the most important of those is so large that it has turn out to be a vacationer attraction in its personal proper, locals see them as smelly monuments to frustration, typically missing any free house as a result of sheer variety of semi-abandoned bikes. Because of this, common commuters danger arrest by locking their bikes in close by bushes, streetlights and indicators, or leaving them on any accessible concrete slab, growing their probabilities of theft.

At the least for now, the brand new underwater parking construction we visited is immaculate, giving off critical 2001: A House Odyssey vibrations. It simply opened on Wednesday and was solely barely used till Thursday after I visited. Contained in the 24-hour managed facility, I noticed maybe a couple of hundred private bikes and some dozen OVFiets shared bikes accessible to take a look at. Importantly, we additionally noticed a each day cleansing crew at work and a handful of pleasant employees prepared to elucidate the way it all works.

Parking within the storage is free for the primary 24 hours, then €1.35 (about $1.46) for every extra day. That is each handy for each day commuters and an incredible motivator for individuals to get their bikes out shortly. To enter, you must cross along with your OV-chipkaart (the Dutch transport card linked to your financial institution) or have a Fietstag (“bicycle tag”) fitted to your bike. The chip tag is free for subscribers and solely took two minutes to use and course of as soon as within the storage.

A street-level bike path takes you on to the above-ground entrance to the underwater storage, which is marked by a big blue signal and bike emblem, making it seen from a long way. The signal reveals the variety of parking areas nonetheless accessible (on my arrival it mentioned 5792 in illuminated inexperienced numbers) permitting you to search out another automotive park whether it is full. Right here, you get off and stroll or sit on a pair of conveyor belts that descend beneath the waterline, bringing you to the parking zone entrance.

Since my bike was outfitted with a brand new Fietstag, I used to be in a position to go straight by way of the so-called “check-in and check-out space” with none delay. Others might want to contact their OV-chipkaart within the clearly marked place beneath the show. The encompassing lights flip inexperienced and the show reads: “Fiets ingecheckt!” (Bicycle registered!) to let you recognize you possibly can proceed.

The crimson and inexperienced lights on the vertical columns contained in the storage permit you to simply see which rows of motorbike racks nonetheless have open areas accessible. Every part was inexperienced throughout my go to. You possibly can take any accessible house to park your bike. As soon as parked, an escalator on the far finish of the storage supplies direct entry to Amsterdam Central Station.

The underground storage is an engineering marvel, however it’s not with out its flaws. For starters, there isn’t a designated parking for cumbersome cargo bikes, that are quite common in Amsterdam for households with babies. There are additionally no charging factors for e-bikes, which is an actual oversight in a rustic the place greater than half of all new bikes offered are electrical.

You additionally can not register with a smartphone, smartwatch or debit card presently. Vacationers with a rented bicycle or anybody else with out an OV-chipkaart can ask an attendant for a mortgage cross for check-in and exit.

And as somebody who leaves my bike parked outdoors in a single day, I am not too eager on the Fietstag being left on the bike completely. It could possibly simply be stolen and utilized by anybody to secretly test in or out of the storage, with all invoices mechanically uploaded to my account.

Nevertheless, these are such minor issues that I’m nearly ashamed to say them. However trendy cities like Amsterdam have solely gotten up to now, although a long time of steady enchancment. The mission round Central Station would in all probability have began in 2019, however its basis was laid a very long time in the past.

Amsterdam’s metamorphosis from a car-centric metropolis to a multimodal wonderland started within the 1970s with the assistance of enlightened locals and politicians who, in live performance, known as for a extra livable metropolis. Vehicles are nonetheless round and wanted, however personal possession is being discouraged in favor of unpolluted and dependable automotive sharing companies that get preferential therapy. Changing personal vehicles with electrical variations that require simply as a lot house and spend greater than 90% of the time unused is not going to assist transfer cities sooner or later.

In fact, not each metropolis could be like Amsterdam. However even new bike cities like Paris have confirmed that in the event you construct the lanes, the cyclists will come. And you must begin someplace.

All photographs by Thomas Ricker / The Verge