According to official submissions, every day 37 bicycles on average are stolen in Poland. Moreover, many people do not report theft because they do not believe in the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies so the actual number may be many times higher. Data from previous years show that the trend is upward and there will be more thefts. Compared with the Netherlands, the most developed cycling country, about half a million bicycles are stolen every year there. However, the Rowerado company has developed a new solution to prevent bicycle thefts.
The first Bikeep station is already in Poland. Many cyclists are afraid to leave their bike in the city space. In order to offer safe parking spaces, the Focus Shopping Center in Bydgoszcz installed an intelligent Bikeep bicycle parking station. It is the first such investment in Poland.
The operator of the station is the Rowerado company from Bydgoszcz. It specializes in providing innovative parking and storage solutions for bicycles and scooters.
The Bikeep station consists of several independent stations. A dedicated application or one of the cards from our wallet is needed to open the station. After unlocking, the blocking arm lifts and the bike can be installed. The metal part of the station protects the bike against being stolen. It is a very simple and intuitive solution, easier than ordinary fasteners. Additionally, the safety of the bicycle is ensured by a CCTV camera installed a few meters away and a built-in alarm.
What is interesting, Bikeep is completely free. The shopping center in Bydgoszcz hopes that this innovation for cyclists will attract more customers to the center. The center believes that it is a package deal – if customers feel more confident about their bikes, they will also spend more time shopping.
The owner of Rowerado is a Dutchman, Jos Muller, who has lived in Bydgoszcz for 25 years. He says about his business:
“Modern, intelligent and ecological bicycle parking systems are the future of Polish cities. I am Dutch, cycling is in my DNA. I cycled over 10,000 km across the country and in almost every trip I had a problem with parking my bike. In addition, my bike has already been stolen twice. Therefore, I decided to solve this problem. Poland is one of the largest and most dynamically developing markets for bicycles in Europe. In a few years, our stations will be an everyday sight in cities.”
Cyclists constitute an increasing percentage of the population in Poland and their number grows every year. They cycle to work, school, restaurant, office or shop. In cities, there are stands in many places, but they offer very limited security.
Attaching the bike to a regular stand does not protect against theft. Most of the security devices available on the market can be removed or cut in seconds. In our country, almost 14,000 cyclists become victims of theft each year. The statistics will worsen as there are more and more cyclists each year. Moreover, the prices of two-wheelers are rising rapidly. At the moment, you have to pay over PLN 5,000 for a good bike from a recognized brand so bikes are a real treat for thieves.