Cycling for Everyone
Cycling for Everyone
Knowledge

Smart Cities A to C Exchange Programme

2 October 2023

On 27th September 2023, the DCE was invited to join a follow up to the Smart Cities A to C Exchange Programme in Amsterdam. Hosted by Amsterdam Trade and Innovation, the programme aimed to share knowledge and experience relating to solutions for urban mobility and mobility hubs. The event also provided two examples of collaboration that are occurring between participants of the DCE network.

The first such example was presented by Mobian. Amidst a conference room of the World Trade Centre in Amsterdam, Mobian outlined the need and benefits for their park and ride MOBIHUB. With one app, people are able to book car parking spots on the edge of cities and hire a bicycle to continue their journey from there. However, with the current electrification of mobility, these hubs also provide e-bikes to users. To achieve this, they have collaborated with Tiler, whose kickstand allows seamless charging of Mobian’s e-bikes via a charging tile embedded in the ground. As Tiler later presented, their kickstand and charging tiles require no above ground infrastructure, meaning more space is available for e-bikes to park. The simple charging method, utilizing the ingrained behaviour of using a kickstand when parking a bike, ensures that people have no issues with charging.

The simplicity of charging with Tiler’s kickstand was then demonstrated to us in the second example of inter-network collaboration. Within a stone’s throw from Amsterdam’s historic waterfront and shipping docks, we were given a glimpse into the future of accessible and smart urban mobility by a new type of e-bike docking. As part of a delighted crowd, we witnessed a demonstration of a new Buurt Hub (Neighbourhood Hub) in Kattenburgerstraat 5 that has come about following a collaboration between the city of Amsterdam, Cargoroo and Tiler. Here, Cargoroo bikes, which can be hired through their app, were fitted with the Tiler kickstand and the Hub fitted with charging tiles, to allow easy parking and charging of e-bikes. The trial aims to assess the feasibility of expanding such a Buurt Hub to other neighbourhoods around the city, to improve urban accessibility, as well as improve compatibility and user interface with e-bikes. The fact that the proposed trial was approved by the city in a matter of weeks, demonstrates yet another example of the support given to experimental and innovative ideas in the Netherlands.

We look forward to seeing what comes from both collaborations going forward.

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Involved partners

Tiler, Cargoroo, Gemeente Amsterdam

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