Poland's first smart bike parking at Focus Mall in Bydgoszcz

Focus Mall in Bydgoszcz has Poland's first Bikeep smart bike parking station. Bydgoszcz-based Rowerado, Bikeep's representative in Poland, installed it in September 2022 and opened it with a ceremony in front of the centre on 30 September.

Why Bydgoszcz needed it

Ordinary racks only give a bike a simple clasp to lock to, and that is easy to break. As more people ride expensive bikes and e-bikes, the risk of theft grows with them.

"I hope that there will be more smart bike parking stations in Bydgoszcz, because cyclists are afraid to lock their bikes with ordinary bike rack stands. A simple clasp is a barrier that is very easy to break, and as there are more and more expensive bikes, the bike theft problem may increase. I would rather buy an electric bike to run errands in the city, but I don't dare to leave it unattended." Jos Muller, CEO of Rowerado

How it works

• The dock holds the bike. A locking bar closes over the frame, so riders don't need their own lock.
• App or card. Riders park and unlock with the Bikeep app or a contactless card.
• Alarm and camera. Every dock sounds an alarm if someone tampers with a locked bike, and a camera watches the station.
• Free to use. Shoppers and passers-by park at no cost.

Three years on

Since it opened, the five-dock station at Focus Mall has logged more than 9,000 parkings by more than 600 different riders.

Rowerado specialises in parking and storage for bikes and scooters and works to bring the same standard of secure parking to more Polish cities. Gazeta Wyborcza covered the launch in Polish. More on bike parking for shopping centres is on the retail page.