15,000 Brussels cyclists waiting for secure bike parking

Almost 15,000 people in Brussels are on the waiting list for a secure bike parking space, and some have been waiting for up to four years, new figures reveal.

A count in May put the number at about 14,200. Since then, about 500 more people have signed up, according to cycling association Fietsersbond.

Most of the secure spaces on offer are in the metal bike boxes installed on the street by Cycloparking, a division of the regional parking agency parking.brussels. 

Each box holds up to five bikes. Of the 9,300 secure spaces in the city, around 6,300 are in boxes. The rest are in bike rooms and in three large underground car parks at Bourse, De Brouckère and Flagey.

The agency was meant to have 10,000 spaces in place by the end of this year and will fall short.

"They do fantastic work there, but they don't have enough resources," said Thomas Deweer, Brussels policy officer at Fietsersbond.

One Schaerbeek resident, who relies on a bike to get around, told RTBF: "In my case, it took three years."

To free up places, parking.brussels is tightening the rules. At the moment, a bike can sit unused in a box for up to three months. From next year, that will be cut to one month.

"After two warnings, the unused bike will be moved to a depot for storage," said parking.brussels spokesperson Sara Jasmes. According to the agency, subscribers use their box about twice a week on average.

Fietsersbond says the long-term answer lies not in more boxes but in larger neighbourhood bike parkings. 

"Bike boxes are a relatively cheap way of acting quickly," said Deweer. "But in the long term there has to be real investment in neighbourhood parkings with a much bigger capacity. You can serve a whole neighbourhood with one of those."

He pointed to Antwerp and Ghent as examples, and said ground floors of apartment blocks, empty shops, sports centres and bike rooms in underground car parks could all be used. "Brussels municipalities have a lot of premises that could be put to better use."

That is the direction parking.brussels is starting to take. There are now 80 collective bike parkings in the city, with 1,800 spaces between them, RTBF reported.

One of the latest is a former petrol station behind a large gate, converted to hold 32 ordinary bikes and four cargo bikes. 

"This is exactly the kind of space that allows us to meet quite a big demand," said David Vogel, who is in charge of cycling at parking.brussels. It also means no new bike parking has to be created on the street.

Municipalities hand over empty premises such as vacant ground floors or old commercial sites, and the agency fits them out and runs them at its own expense. 

"It's a win-win for the municipalities, because they can bring spaces back into use," Vogel said. There is no extra cost to the municipality, and some could offer owners incentives, such as waiving the tax on empty buildings.

Within Brussels, Deweer singles out Forest as the best example. The municipality has 99 bike boxes with 477 spaces and 16 neighbourhood parkings with 327 spaces, despite limited means.

Parking.brussels is drawing up a new masterplan for bike parking, due early in 2027. But Fietsersbond says the real test will be the agency's new management agreement for 2027 to 2031, which will decide how much money is available.

"If there are no funds attached to a new action plan, it is non-binding," said Deweer.

Cycling groups are also unhappy about the space given to cars. Last month, Jette dropped plans for a protected cycle path on Avenue du Sacré-Coeur, where there are several schools, in order to keep car parking spaces. Several cycling organisations planned a protest this week.

Fietsersbond, Avello and Heroes for Zero are also preparing a light-hearted social media campaign asking cyclists to post photos of where they are forced to keep their bikes, from hallways to toilets. The fear of having a bike stolen is also putting some people off buying one in the first place, the groups say.