Info

Item author
Guido Göbbels
Item Created
17 Jun 2010
Photo taken on
16 Jun 2010 3:32 pm
16 Jun 2010 4:16 pm
16 Jun 2010 4:15 pm
16 Jun 2010 4:15 pm

illegal bike parking

A bike is blocking the way to a fire hydrant.

curious people

some people came and were discussing if they can lock their bikes there or not. In the end they went away.

illegal group parking

a big group of bikes illegal parking at central station

3 signs and 1 bike

There are 3 "no bike parking" signs next to a bike. Next to the bike are more bikes.


Context of the observation

The observation was done mainly around Cologne Central Station but we could observe similar events in the city (between KISD and central station). The observation was done on several days during different times (morning / noon/ evening).

A special spot of observation was a memorial which dealt with the deportation of jews. The memorial was placed between two signs which indicated that parking was not permitted in this specific location because of the memorial.


On the other side of the observation spot (50 meter away) is a parking garage for bikes which offers a secure parking space and other services like maintenace and/or cleaning. Up to 1000 bikes can be parked in this bicycle parking garage. Here are the costs of parking your bicycle at this location:

per day - 0,70€
per month - 7€
per year - 70€
per year with reserved space - 95€

We mainly observed the ways people behaved when parking their bicycles in an obvious "no parking" area.

Location

HBF, cologne
Germany

 

2 Interpretations

We could observe that people disobey the "no parking" rule a lot. Most of the time a group of bikes was parking next to those signs. We observed this in front of shop windows, in the way of a fire hydrant and next to a memorial.
Interesting was that there was a gradual disobedience.
In front of the shop window a lot of bikes were parked.
Directly in front of the fire hydrant was no bike but a lot of bikes were blocking the way.
At the memorial no bikes where parked or chained to but there were several bikes locked to the posts of the "no-parking" sign.

Guido Göbbels
17 Jun 2010

It seems that people disobey the "no parking signs" since they do not immediately recognize a threat (such as a parking officer who could give out a fine. Furthermore most cyclist seem to label the situation as "safe" since so many other bicycles are parked in this so called no parking area. Especially interesting was the way certain people looked up at the no parking sign, then looked around at all the other bicycles and continued on to park their bicycles in this area. We thought this behavior was comparable to that of herd animals. The animals follow the leader since they assume the leader has made all of the smartest decisions. Similarly the cyclists who arrive at a no parking area (and sees other bicycles parked in this area) will most likely park his or her bicycle here since he/she assumes it is safe to do so.

Rachelle Bugeaud
08 Jul 2010

6 Questions & 0 Responses

What is the consequence of illegally parking your bike ? Who is the executive power in these situations and also, how could the cyclist be caught?

Guido Göbbels
17 Jun 2010

What type of characteristics need to be present in order for a cyclist to disregard a no parking sign? Additionally, why is there no action taken against the illegally parked bikes?

Guido Göbbels
17 Jun 2010

Who is guilty ? The cyclists who want to secure their bicycles near the station or the people who decided that the monument should be placed near/in the bicycle parking area ?

Guido Göbbels
17 Jun 2010

What makes people ignore no bike parking signs? Does the existence of the signs and posts actually encourage people to lock their bicycles to the signposts?

Jonathan McTaggart
17 Jun 2010

Where would you place your bike ? Illegally and unsafe but in front of the entrance? Secure but with costs and 150meter further ?

Guido Göbbels
17 Jun 2010

If people are parking their bicycles in a "no parking" area since they do not notice the signs, would there be a way to more clearly define a "no parking" area ? Perhaps through use of shapes, colors, etc. ?

Rachelle Bugeaud
08 Jul 2010