Increased security for Brussels' underground paid bike parks

Parking.brussels is ramping up security in the city’s underground bike parks, hoping to increase the number of cyclists in the Belgian capital.

Permanent night surveillance and a new intercom system to assist users during any problems are two of the new measures being undertaken in the De Brouckère and Bourse bike parks, Bruzz reports.

Use of these parking facilities requires a paid subscription, but members have complained about difficulty getting access.

“I’ve had a subscription for the bicycle car parks since September last year and have already tried a few times to get inside Bourse and De Brouckère with my subscription, but it doesn't work,” one cyclist told Bruzz.

“When I call the help number, the staff don't know what to do. I want my money back.”

Spokesperson Pierre Vassart of parking.brussels, which manages those bicycle car parks, acknowledged that there are issues.

“We know that there are sometimes technical problems,” said Vassart. “We do what we can to address that. For example, since January 2024, we have had a supervisor every night at Bourse.”

From June 2024, a new cooperation with Indigo parking will start. From then on, Indigo will be responsible for managing the intercom and for responding adequately to subscribers with problems.

During the start-up phase, Stib staff received those calls, but that system proved unsuccessful.

Apart from technical problems – such as a door not opening and an emergency number that connected users to staff who were unable to provide solutions – a number of bicycles were stolen from the guarded garage.

Some 15 thefts of bicycles from the main car parks were reported in 2023, compared to eight a year earlier.

Brussels MP Els Rochette (Vooruit.brussels) suggested in parliament that technical and security problems were perhaps having an impact on the declining number of subscribers.

There were 1,555 subscribers at the beginning of 2023 and 1,211 at the beginning of 2024 – a drop of more than 20%.

Although parking.brussels acknowledged that there were problems with security and sometimes technical problems were not solved in time, Vassart said of the subscription figures: “It’s true that we had fewer subscribers in 2023 compared to a year earlier, but anyone who goes back a year further in time will see that we only had 788 subscribers then.”

In 2022, the agency ran a campaign offering free subscriptions, resulting in an increase in users.

“Some of those subscribers left a year later,” Vassart said. “As far as we’re concerned, the figures from 2023 therefore don't really count as a decline, you rather see the result of a successful campaign.”

Parking.brussels has 1,114 secure bicycle parking facilities in total: 304 in De Brouckère, 610 in Bourse and 200 in Coovi.

There are different subscription formulas available, for example, a subscription that only allows access to the large bike parking facilities, or a subscription for the large and smaller options, such as bike sheds and bike boxes.

In the future, it will also be possible for people without a subscription to park their bicycle in the guarded bicycle park for a fee.