The Brussels region should soon have parking facilities specially dedicated to cargo bikes, which are increasingly numerous in the Belgian capital. According to figures from the Belgian bicycle observatory, in 2020, they represented 6% of bicycles in circulation, compared to only 2% in 2018.
The Brussels authorities hope to encourage the use of cargo bikes, but for this to happen, a minimum of appropriate infrastructure is obviously needed, starting with parking facilities capable of accommodating these bulky bikes.
It is indeed very difficult today to park these bikes in the city, especially near public places such as schools, administration sites or department stores. It is worth noting that one of the few underground parking lots capable of accommodating cargo bikes in Brussels, in the city center, even has an elevator sized accordingly. This shows how significant the constraints can be for this type of transport.
However, secure, sheltered parking for cargo bikes could soon be created. The idea could even be to increase the standard to one cargo bike space per 10 bike spaces in multi-unit residential buildings. This is still in the planning stage, however, and will need to be voted on in order to be implemented.
Parking spaces alone will not necessarily be enough to convince people to purchase a cargo bike, and other infrastructure will also need to be adapted. For its part, the Groupe de recherche et d'action des cyclistes quotidiens (GRACQ), which represents and defends the interests of cyclists in French-speaking Belgium, is lobbying for suitable bike paths, in terms of width and turning circle, in Brussels and its surroundings
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