Thousands of bicycles in storage Your bike is gone? Maybe the city of Zurich has it

Every year, the city of Zurich collects thousands of bicycles that have been parked on public property for too long. This makes bike owners angry, as the city is rather reluctant to provide information. This should change.

Before the summer vacations, the city of Zurich shocked everyone with an announcement: Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich (ERZ) collects 4000 bicycles a year. These are bicycles that are left on public property for too long. However, the number of bicycles collected is astonishing: only 1000 bicycles are collected from the depot by their owners. 3000 bikes are left at the depot every year.

However, according to the city, 80 percent of the bicycles collected are still roadworthy. Most of them are donated after a holding period of 90 days: They are shipped to Africa, as the "Landbote" writes.

Politicians now want to resolve the dilemma with the bicycles. A municipal council alliance made up of the FDP, SP and Greens is calling on the city council to get to grips with the problem in a postulate. 3000 uncollected bicycles is an "enormously high" number and "should be reduced", they write in the motion.

Better information about the 30-day deadline

The majority of Zurich's population is unaware that bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters and mopeds are collected by the city if they are left in a public parking space for longer than 30 days. This applies not only to bicycles that are clearly broken, but also to bicycles that have been deliberately abandoned. At certain locations in the city, there is even a 48-hour time limit, for example at the main railway station or Hardbrücke station.

Marita Verbali (FDP), the first signatory of the initiative, together with Marcel Tobler (SP) and Urs Riklin (Greens), is calling for a significant improvement in communication on four points.

Firstly, ERZ should inform the public more about the fact that bicycles parked on public property will be removed after a certain period of time.

Secondly, QR codes or stickers should be affixed to bicycle parking spaces that refer to the city's online bike search. Those affected can fill out a form there if they lose their bike.

The third point calls for bike owners to be informed where they can collect their bikes.

Mark bikes better

Fourthly, Verbali, Tobler and Riklin are calling for the way in which ERZ checks whether a vehicle has not been moved for 30 days to be revised. At present, tires are marked with blue chalk and checked after the period has expired. However, the initiators consider this procedure to be "not always reliable" and are calling for a "more suitable, more environmentally friendly method".

ERZ is now in the process of making a change. Before the summer vacations, an ERZ spokesperson told the "Landbote" that the city was open to better marking proposals. The city council now has two years to respond to the proposal. ERZ had already announced clarifications two months ago.