The municipality of Amstelveen takes an average of around one hundred orphan bikes out of the street every month. These are bicycles that are parked in the same place for more than two weeks, and were not removed after a warning at the wheel.
In October last year, the so -called Designation Decree Weesfietsen Amstelveen 2024 came into effect. Since then, the municipality has provided 1,839 bicycles with such a warning. A spokesperson says that after asking from NH. If the owner does not collect the bike before a certain date, the municipality will remove him.
Almost 700 bicycle owners found the warning and removed or moved their two -wheeler. But at the end of the Ultimatum, 966 bicycles were still in the same place. They have been removed and stored by the municipality, says the spokesperson.
Those who want his bike back can pick it up for a few weeks at the municipal depot on Sportlaan. Bicycles that are not picked up get a second life or are destroyed. “Only bicycles that are classified as a wreck will enter the fragmenter,” says the spokesperson.
“The other bicycles get a socially relevant destination. For example, bicycles went to our second home (care organization for people with a disability, ed.) And we have delivered children’s bicycles to one of the asylum seekers’ centers in Amstelveen.”
Earlier this week, NH took a look at the bicycle workshop on the Bouwerij, where clients of our second home refurbish and sell these bikes.
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The municipality of Amstelveen finds orphan bikes undesirable for two reasons. “They keep bicycle racks occupied and give a sad look.” Residents are also bothered by the two -wheelers left behind, the municipality emphasizes.
The problem is not newbut gets bigger, says the spokesperson. “In the past years, the Public Space Enforcement Team received relatively many reports about striking bikes in the neighborhood. That is also the reason that the municipality has drawn up the notification decision to be able to actively maintain litter bikes in the municipality.”