Latvia's first smart bike parking at Galerija Centrs in Riga

Galerija Centrs, the shopping centre on Audēju iela in Riga's Old Town, has Latvia's first Bikeep smart bike parking station. The centre announced it in July 2022 and opened it in September, so shoppers and city residents could park their bikes safely and for free.

Why a shopping centre invested

Galerija Centrs wanted visitors who arrive by bike to stop worrying about it while they shop.

"We want to provide our visitors with the highest possible level of comfort, so they don't have to worry about their bicycle when visiting the shopping center, because the vehicle is safe in the smart bike parking station." Sanita Krieger, manager of Galerija Centrs

She added that cyclists appreciate innovations like this, and that they push companies to think more about the urban environment.

How it keeps bikes safe

• Reinforced locking bar. It closes over the bike frame, so no lock is needed.
• Alarm. Every dock sounds an alarm if someone tampers with a locked bike.
• Camera. A camera watches the station around the clock.
• App or card. Riders park and unlock with the Bikeep app or a contactless card.

Busy in the heart of Riga

The station has 10 docks and has logged more than 6,800 parkings by more than 1,100 different riders since it opened, a steady stream of riders for a single station in the Old Town.

Bikeep's Latvian partner ProVision Baltic installed the station and looks after it. Its smart city site is viedpilseta.lv. Dienas Bizness covered the launch in Latvian. More on bike parking for shopping centres is on the retail page.