The most important question when planning a bicycle parking facility is: Who is it intended for? Different target groups have different needs: Short-term parkers prefer to park as close as possible to their destination. Long-term parkers, on the other hand, are willing to walk longer distances but value shelter, lighting, and lockable bicycle boxes. And tourists often require charging stations for e-bikes and lockers. As you can see, only once the question of the target group has been answered can the optimal location and features of a facility be determined.

The depth of a bicycle parking facility indicates how much space the parked bicycles occupy – and thus indirectly, how many bicycles can be parked there. It is determined by the length of the bicycles (approx. 1900–2000 mm), their orientation (45° or 90°), and the wheel position (single-sided or double-sided). ADFC-certified bicycle racks, for example, have the advantage of reducing the required depth when the front wheels are positioned double-sided due to an overlap.

The second important factor, besides the parking space depth, is the traffic area width. This refers to the space required for arriving and departing cyclists to easily maneuver their bikes between the parked bicycles. The optimal width is at least 1.80 meters. However, the longer the bicycle parking facilities are, the greater the traffic area width must be, as a higher volume of traffic is likely. For the design of double-decker bicycle parking systems, a traffic area width of at least 2.10 meters is required from the outset.

The third and final important guideline for planning bicycle parking facilities is the parking space height. For double-decker parking systems, this must be set at a minimum of 2.75 meters. No lines – pipes, cable trays, lights, etc. – may be mounted lower than the parking space height in this area.