Source: CROW-Fiestberaad Image source: Colin Rowley, Unsplash

CROW-Fietsberaad, the Dutch government’s knowledge centre for cycling policy, has published a bicycle parking and inclusion handbook, which gives guidance to municipalities on compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Stipulations include that public space must accommodate people who wish to safely park adaptive bicycles.

For people with mobility impairments, adaptive bicycles can signal freedom and independence, however parking their bicycles can be problematic. Regular cycle parking spots are frequently too small, insufficiently accessible, or are too far from destinations. CROW-Fietsberaad states that, in some municipalities, clear legal status of cycle parking and consistent enforcement is lacking.

In the absence of national regulations in the Netherlands for this topic, the General Local Ordinance (APV) or environmental plans can serve as a basis for enforcement. The aim, CROW-Fietsberaad states, is to work towards a uniform and nationally recognisable approach to the provision of accessible parking spaces for adaptive bicycles, so that people with mobility impairments can rely on there being appropriate facilities in every municipality.

The handbook offers insight into:

• The functional and spatial requirements for accessible bicycle parking
• Recommendations for location and design
• Policy implementation tools
• Legal safeguarding and enforcement
• Suggestions for uniform and recognisable application in public spaces

The handbook is aimed at mobility and public space policymakers, urban planners, permit issuers, public space managers, and enforcement officers. The Bicycle Parking and Inclusion Handbook can be downloaded here.