Case Studies

Falco has completed the roll-out of the latest tranche of cycle parking facilities across Abellio West Midland’s franchised network of over 146 stations across the West Midlands. Pictured here are several of the latest installations including; Berkhamsted, Shenstone, Wellington, Stone, Stourbridge Junction, Dudley Port, Watford Junction and Sutton Coldfield Stations! The scheme which got underway in July last year involved the manufacture, supply and installation of a number of cycle parking facilities with associated canopies, along with the provision of cycle repair and maintenance stations to allow commuters to carry out cycle maintenance whilst on the go. Two key products of this tranche of the Abellio West Midland’s Cycle Innovation Plan included the open and spacious FalcoRail cycle canopy (powder coated in Falco’s own carbon neutral manufacturing plant) and a modified version of the FalcoLevel-Eco two-tier cycle rack providing mass, sheltered and secure cycle parking across the network. To date, Falco has supplied Abellio West Midland’s Trains with over 1,000 secure cycle parking spaces at the following stations: Stations Berkhamsted Shenstone Shirley Lichfield Trent Valley Yardley Wood St Albans Abbey Stechford Marston Green Sutton Coldfield Redditch Four Oaks Stourbridge Junction Northfield Wolverton Selly Oak Berkhamsted Codsall Shenstone Wellington Watford Junction Lichfield City Stone Dudley Port Tring The Department for Transport (DfT) awarded the train operator funding through their Cycle-Rail programme last year with the aim of encouraging people to consider how they can reduce their carbon footprint and to promote healthier, more sustainable travel choices such as cycling, when travelling by train. It is hoped that by improving the facilities available at stations, cycling can be made an easier and more convenient alternative for commuters and leisure travellers alike. FalcoLevel-Eco Two-Tier Cycle Rack The FalcoLevel-Eco is a high density and budget friendly two-tier cycle parking system which accommodates twice the number of bicycles compared to any other traditional cycle rack or stand.  The FalcoLevel two-tier series is the UK’s best-selling high density cycle rack and is used at the UK’s first ever cycle hub at Leeds City Station as well as the UK’s two largest cycle hubs at Cambridge and Chelmsford Stations. More information about the FalcoLevel-Eco can be found here. For more information about Falco’s scheme for Abellio West Midland’s Trains or how Falco can assist your cycle parking scheme, please contact our helpful sales team on 01538 380080.

This is the new array of two-tier cycle parking Falco installed this month for the Australian based investment and financial services group, Macquarie, for their offices in the City of London.   Falco manufactured, supplied and installed a series of 118 FalcoLevel-Eco two-tier cycle parking spaces within an underground facility at the prestigious bank, providing employees with secure and accessible cycle parking. The popular FalcoLevel-Eco design was chosen for its capability to be located within compact areas, such as the underground facility shown here, providing cyclists with twice as many cycle parking spaces that would have otherwise been available when using traditional cycle racks and stands. Single and double-sided variations of the popular cycle rack were used to fit inconspicuous within the tight constraints of the space envelope available. The recent installation shown here at Macquarie is just one of many underground environments Falco has supplied and installed cycle parking equipment for. Other recent examples include two-tier cycle parking for three flagship Selfridges stores across the UK, VelowUp® vertical cycle stands and two-tier cycle racks for the University of Edinburgh, 150 two-tier cycle rack spaces for Marks & Spencer at Paddington Basin in London as well as semi-vertical cycle parking for Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Macquarie Group is a multinational independent investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Australia and is the world’s largest infrastructure asset manager. The FalcoLevel-Eco is a high density and budget friendly two-tier cycle parking system which accommodates twice the number of bicycles compared to any other traditional cycle rack or stand. The FalcoLevel two-tier series is the UK’s best-selling high density cycle rack and is used at the UK’s first ever cycle hub at Leeds City Station as well as the UK’s two largest cycle hubs at Cambridge and Chelmsford Stations. For more information about the FalcoLevel-Eco cycle parking system or how Falco can assist your cycle parking scheme, please contact our helpful sales team on 01538 380080.

FalcoSmart Keyless Bike Hangar is the latest development of our FalcoSmart App-based cycle parking system for bike hangars and (cycle hubs) which removes the traditional key based locking system completely, providing hands-free/handle-less entry to any UK bike hangar. The Falco keyless entry system is simple to use and works through the FalcoSmart App via the resident’s phone. The user simply opens the app and presses the on-screen button/icon and the door opens. The user then closes the door normally until it ‘clicks’ shut again. The new development builds on the current benefits of the FalcoSmart app-based system and adds a crucial factor for local authorities by removing the key-based, swing-arm lock altogether. The traditional manual ‘swing-arm’ lock is a natural target for thieves and attempted entry can cause significant costs for repairs, so removing the lock altogether removes the opportunity. FalcoSmart is a cycle parking app with a comprehensive back-office and gives local authorities a complete overview of the use of their cycle parking facilities.  Currently being rolled out by a number of Councils including Waltham Forest for their cargo bike hire scheme, the app also provides integrated access to hubs and other facilities within the borough. Key features of the FalcoSmart Keyless/Handless system include: Both Android and Apple iOS compatible. Secure Bluetooth and NFC connection. Remote Falco/Client based Management System. No Wi-Fi connection required. Eliminates the need for physical key locks. IP65 rated. Retrofittable and backward compatible to all UK bike hangar designs. Handsfree/handless locking for all UK Bike Hangars. The use of ‘apps’ has now entered most aspects of modern life and this is also true of access control. Falco has developed its own system ‘FalcoSmart’ and is able to integrate its app into any virtually any cycle parking facility; either installed into a bike hangar, a new cycle store or retrofitted into an existing one. There are a wide number of benefits of the FalcoSmart Cycle Parking App for both local authorities and residents: Council Reduces the cost of theft and damage to traditional locks. Provides inherent anti-jacking feature. Easier and more secure to administer – users can be switched on/off in the back-office Cheaper to administer than physical key systems Full data on cycle parking usage to enable cycling usage/behaviour Can be used on multiple cycle parking facilities Enables app-based access to any UK bike hangar. Users No need to carry multiple hardware such as keys, swipe cards, key fobs etc. All locks operated by the same app Potentially cheaper No need for a key deposit A further benefit to clients using the FalcoSmart electronic lock concept is that it can also be integrated into hubs and other cycle stores, so for instance a local authority which has a network of both bike hangars and cycle hubs can give residents access to their local bike hangar to pick up their bike for the morning commute and then enable them to use the same app to access the central bike hub at their local station. The back-office control means that each person can have a tailored access profile unique to them but controlled by the Borough based on their subscription. As a result of its importance to Falco and our clients we now have a patent pending on this concept of a keyless /handsfree /handless entry into a bike hangar (application number GB2012118.2). For more information about the UK’s first keyless bike hangar, please contact our helpful sales team on 01538 380080. 

Portsmouth residents are taking advantage of a new six month Bike Hangar trial aimed at tackling the common issue of a lack of secure cycle parking facilities within residential areas. The trial includes the popular FalcoPod Bike Hangar design and is the first of its kind in Portsmouth, which aims to adopt the same success the facility has had upon many areas throughout London, where demand for secure cycle parking is extensive. Portsmouth City Council has introduced the scheme on eight roads to help improve air quality, make cycling a more accessible choice and encourage the use of cycling amongst its residents. So far hangars are available in Manners Road, Lucknow Street, Eastfield Road, Addison Road, Hunter Road, Clarence Road, Guildford Road and Sultan Road. Pictured here is Councillor Lynne Stagg unveiling the new scheme at the first Bike Hangar installation on Lucknow Street using the FalcoPod design. Portsmouth residents can now nominate their road for a FalcoPod bike hangar in the future by visiting travel.portsmouth.gov.uk/bikehangars. FalcoPod Bike Hangar The FalcoPod bike hangar as shown here in Portsmouth, is a simple and effective cycle parking facility designed to meet the needs of cyclists who don’t have access to private cycle parking facilities. The effective bike hangar has already been successfully rolled out to the London Borough of Waltham Forest, Brent, Camden, Westminster and Merton Councils.  Bike Hangar Management and Maintenance Through our ‘Falco Rentals’ team, Falco now offers local authorities and private companies a fully managed bike hangar service dealing with key management and public payments as well as a regular planned maintenance service to support the council with its ongoing public service maintenance obligations. This service is not just restricted to bike hangars though, we are able to provide a rental service for any cycle parking facility, from cycle hubs and bike stores through to individual cycle lockers, the Falco Rentals system is both flexible and simple to use. So let Falco organise your bike parking rental system whilst you get on with doing just what you should be! For more information about the FalcoPod Bike Hangar, the FalcoPod Bike Hangar service or your cycle parking scheme, please contact our helpful sales team on 01538 380080. 

This is the new eye-catching passenger waiting shelter Falco designed and installed for Mallaig Harbour Authority on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. This is now the third shelter Falco has delivered to Mallaig Harbour, with another popular 5m x 2.3m FalcoHub shelter to match the previous two delivered to the Ferry terminal area. The shelter was installed earlier in May and features distinctive nautical branding and graphics with powder coating in a marine blue as well as internal seating. The shelter has been installed adjacent to the CalMac Ferry ticket office and provides passengers on the Tarbet Ferry route with full weather coverage whilst waiting for arrivals and departures. The bespoke passenger waiting shelter was manufactured in our own ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental) accredited manufacturing facility in accordance with the UK CPR regulations (EN1090) being is CE Marked accordingly and is ready to withstand the traditional Scottish weather! The programme focused on the rollout of bespoke passenger waiting shelters and cycle parking at ports on the CalMac ferries network. Falco has now delivered installations at over 20 CalMac Ferry Terminals across the Scottish coast with ports including Mallaig (shown here), Kilchoan, Tayinloan, Campbeltown, Craignure, Gigha and Rhubodach. The project focused on improving the customer facilities for new cycle, waiting and ticket validation shelters. With cycle tourism numbers increasing at such locations, there was a real need to improve facilities for these passengers and CalMac partnered with Falco to help achieve their goal. CalMac Passenger Waiting Shelters at Mallaig Harbour Falco provide free Scotland-wide site surveys, free AutoCAD design and free rendering graphics to help visualise a passenger waiting shelter or cycle hub design. For more information about the scheme here at Mallaig Harbour or Falco’s bespoke range of passenger waiting shelters, please contact our helpful sales team on 01538 380080.

Falco has completed the roll-out of secure cycle parking infrastructure to four stations on the London Underground Network on behalf of Transport for London. Pictured here are recent installations at Chorley Wood, Newbury Park, Hatton Cross and East Finchley. Two key products of the scheme which aims to improve the cycle-rail user experience at each station are the tried and tested Falco Level Premium+ two-tier cycle parking system and the Falco Rail cycle canopy, which when combined together, create the ultimate cycle park - providing cyclists with high levels of cycle security in a spacious contemporary canopy design. Falco has supplied the following cycle parking infrastructure at each station: Station Facility Chorley Wood 4.5m powder coated bespoke FalcoRail cycle canopy with FalcoLevel-Premium+ two-tier cycle racks to accommodate 20 bikes. One stainless steel Sheffield Stand. Newbury Park Two x 4.5m runs of powder coated bespoke FalcoRail cycle canopy with FalcoLevel-Premium+ two-tier cycle racks to accommodate 40 bikes. Hatton Cross Two x 4.5m runs of powder coated bespoke FalcoRail cycle canopy with FalcoLevel-Premium+ two-tier cycle racks to accommodate 40 bikes. Two stainless steel Sheffield Stands. East Finchley Two x 4.5m runs of powder coated bespoke FalcoRail cycle canopy with FalcoLevel-Premium+ two-tier cycle racks to accommodate 40 bikes. The four stations shown here follow on from the recent installations at Croxley Station and Rickmansworth Station, utilising the same cycle parking equipment, giving cyclists using the Underground the same user experience across the region’s stations. Newbury Park Station Cycle Parking The four stations make use of the UK’s leading FalcoLevel-Premium+ cycle rack, designed to accommodate twice as many cycles within the same space restraints or any traditional cycle rack or stand. Moving forward, the two-tier cycle racks are designed to be maintenance free to provide minimal cost of ownership to the client. Additionally should there be any unforeseen damage, the modular nature of each structure means that replacing any damaged items is simple and easy to undertake. For more information about the scheme shown here or about the FalcoLevel-Premium+ two-tier cycle parking system, please contact our helpful sales team on 01538 380080.