• Private car parks offer more and more parking spaces for two-wheelers in Paris.

  • Bicycles find a secure parking solution there and replace the vehicles whose number is declining in the capital.

  • The solutions offered should evolve with repair, concierge or charging services for electric bikes.

The practice of cycling has been developing at high speed in Paris for a few years.

Visible since the 2019 strikes and boosted by the Covid-19 health crisis, the number of cyclists has exploded in recent months.

The town hall of Paris is supporting this transformation with its bicycle plan and its objective of making Paris “100% cycle-friendly”.

But the municipality is not the only one to be interested in the evolution of the bicycle in the capital.

Some private players are appearing, in particular to offer new parking solutions, such as Indigo, one of the leaders in car park management in France, which inaugurated its first cyclopark in the 6th arrondissement at the beginning of February, with 94 spaces specially reserved for bicycles, a first for the group.

More than 6,600 complaints of bicycle theft in Paris in 2020

“There has been an acceleration in the practice of cycling since the first confinement, explains Charles Mahé, general manager of Indigo Weel, it is a ground swell and, as a player in mobility, we must position ourselves on these transformations.

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For the town hall of Paris, it is a godsend to be seized.

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, she is enthusiastic about this new craze: “There were two obstacles to cycling.

Safety on the road, to which we respond with the permanent cycle paths that we continue to develop.

The second is the security of the equipment, and in particular the theft of bicycles.

The town hall of Paris recorded 6,631 complaints for bicycle theft in 2020.

Private can provide full mesh

The city of Paris does offer hoops, but they leave the bikes outside, at the mercy of thieves.

Fifty "veloboxes" are available in the streets, for a total of 300 places, but they have been full for a long time and it is no longer possible to subscribe.

There are also the two bike stations, 198 spaces at Gare de Lyon, 375 spaces at Gare Montparnasse, secure but useful only if you go to these places.

And it is on this point that private car parks find their place, as explained by Paul Martichoux, president and founder of 12.5.

His company offers more than 10,000 parking spaces for bicycles in 800 car parks in Paris.

How? 'Or' What ?

By recovering the car spaces left free.

“We are transforming car parking spaces into bicycle parking.

A place is on average 12.5 m², you can install the equivalent of 8 to 10 classic bikes.

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Car parks, hotels, condominiums… Spaces are everywhere

This free space, 12.5 finds it everywhere.

Private car parks, like those of Indigo, hotel car parks, and even in condominiums and private homes.

“Many buildings from the 1960s and 1970s were designed with two spaces per dwelling.

However, the average number of vehicles today is 0.4 per household.

This leaves a lot of opportunities”, emphasizes Paul Martichoux.

In all, this professional estimates at 30% the number of unused parking spaces in private car parks in the capital.

Also, 12.5 then offers private individuals the opportunity to transform these vacant spaces into bicycle parking with two-tie racks, soon to be replaced by connected terminals, and a reservation system, for one, six or twelve months via an application that allows reservations and to have access to these car parks very simply, all for a price of 18 to 20 euros per month.

"Our objective is to be able to provide a parking solution in each building to obtain a complete network of the city", specifies the entrepreneur.

Places are also reserved for cargo bikes and others are connected terminals for electric bikes.

Full services to come

This mesh, Indigo also wants to participate.

After the inauguration of its first cyclopark, the group plans to open 20 more in 2022 in Paris alone, to offer nearly 1,400 places.

“Our ambition is to become the leader in secure bicycle parking.

For this, we are aiming for 300 cycloparks in France by 2025, which would represent 30,000 places”, explains Charles Mahé.

A quantitative but also qualitative development according to Charles Mahé, because the service offer must evolve: areas as close as possible to the entrances and exits of car parks, signage adapted for safety, service for electric bicycles, workshops for minor maintenance and spaces with benches and personal lockers for gear… Everything has been designed to accommodate cyclists as well as possible.

The followers of the biclou could, in the long term and on a large scale, replace the motor vehicles which see their number falling, for the greatest pleasure of the town hall of Paris: “We support these structures which have a delegation of public service and we promote these initiatives during the study of the files.

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For Paul Martichoux of 12.5, the next objective is to convince the professionals.

Already in discussion with major urban logistics and delivery groups, he also receives calls from human resources managers who wish to offer bicycle parking solutions for their employees.

“This is only the beginning of a great transformation,” he announces.

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