Positive parking at Maastricht University's Student Service Centre
Large numbers of bicycles are often parked in front of the entrance to Maastricht University's Student Service Centre (SSC). This not only creates a messy appearance, but also unsafe situations: it is a thoroughfare that cars and other road users also have to pass through in the historic city centre. Instead of just reporting the nuisance, building manager Pieter Gasthuis teamed up with Maastricht Bereikbaar and the #posifiets campaign to find a solution.
Pieter therefore called on Maastricht Bereikbaar and the #posifiets campaign to help him find a solution. The result: together, we came up with a suitable message for his pavement sign with a positive message, aimed specifically at students. The sign reads: “YOUR bike rack is 104 steps away”. By stating the exact distance, we want to emphasise that it really is no effort at all to walk a few steps further, park your bike properly and immediately add a few extra steps to your pedometer.
“It is important that everyone feels welcome at the SSC, and that starts with an accessible and safe entrance. With this sign, we hope to make students aware that parking correctly is a small effort that makes a big difference for everyone,” says Pieter Gasthuis.
