Rae Parish marks its 155th birthday with smart bike parking

Rae Parish, just south-east of Tallinn, marked its 155th birthday at the end of 2020 with its first Bikeep smart bike parking station. The 10-dock station stands in Jüri, the heart of the parish, on Aruküla tee. The parish newspaper Rae Sõnumid featured it in its January issue as part of the birthday year.

Why Rae invested in bike parking

Rae had already been building for cycling. Deputy parish manager Tanel Tammela explained the background at the opening.

"In recent years, Rae County has added almost 12 km of micromobility lanes. Our schools and kindergartens have stations for bike and scooter parking and we see the rise in usage, they are often used instead of the school buses and cars. Therefore it came naturally for us to provide more infrastructure to bikes, especially since we have the Ampler bicycle factory and Spot of Tallinn are located here." Tanel Tammela, Rae Parish

He called the first station symbolic, because it sits in the centre of the parish and would be used often. The parish planned to add secure parking at its key transport points.

More bikes than cars

A European cycling industry forecast at the time expected bike sales to reach 300 million by 2030. Bikeep CEO Kristjan Lind said that bikes need the same kind of parking that cars take for granted.

"There are more bikes than cars, we need to create the same parking possibilities and infrastructure." Kristjan Lind, CEO of Bikeep

How it works

Riders unlock a dock with the Bikeep app or a contactless card, and a locking bar closes over the bike frame. Every dock sounds an alarm if someone tampers with a locked bike, and a camera watches the station. Parking is free.

Busier every year

The station in Jüri has logged more than 3,600 parkings by over 240 different riders. Use peaks from May to September, and 2026 is already its busiest year yet. More on how municipalities use Bikeep is on the cities page.