As part of the Green Travel Plan, dialogue continues with our property owners to develop more theft-proof bike parking facilities, as well as more options for storing and charging e-bike batteries. Unfortunately, these are issues that take time to resolve as they often require significant investment.
Storage of e-bike batteries
Since 2023, when Kammarkollegiet — the organisation responsible for insuring government agency premises — issued a ban on bringing lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes, electric scooters and similar devices into our buildings, a number of solutions have been implemented. Judging by the 2024 Travel Survey responses, these are still far from sufficient.
The next step for battery storage will mainly involve remodelling existing fireproof rooms. In the next few days, the School of Economics and Management is inaugurating a fireproof room for storing and charging e-bike batteries and scooters. An e-bike battery locker has recently been installed in Gamla Kirurgen’s bike storage facility in the Paradis block, and storage facilities for e-bike batteries are also underway in the M building at LTH.
It does not currently appear that the three storage cabinets for e-bike batteries installed on the LTH campus in September last year will be added to. Investment in this type of outdoor battery cabinet is expensive, as it requires electricity supply to be installed and needs a thermostatic function to cope with charging during winter. In addition, some of our staff have had problems with the locking function, mainly due to the lock batteries not being changed sufficiently regularly. Akademiska Hus has advised that batteries will now be replaced at more frequent intervals.
Secure bike racks and bike parking facilities
Since Forum Medicum was inaugurated two years ago, bike parking has caused chaos in front of the building. Property owner Akademiska Hus had hoped that cyclists would use the racks behind the building to a greater extent, but this has not been the case. This autumn, Akademiska Hus will add 120 bike parking spaces, which will be in place by the end of November.
LU Estates is in talks with Akademiska Hus about conducting a pilot involving a simpler, lockable bike storage room where e.g. e-bikes could be parked, preferably in the car park between Fysicum and the Geocentrum. However, it is still unclear how such a bike storage facility could be financed.
In addition to providing more storage facilities for e-bike batteries and expensive bikes, as requested in last year's travel survey, the issue of more bike racks that allow the frame to be locked has also been discussed. A concrete example of improvements is Akademiska Hus’s installation of bike racks which the frame can be locked to at the Student Union Building at LTH.
To match the ambition of the Green Travel Plan, further investments in lockable bike storage facilities, e-bike battery storage and secure bike racks are needed, and these are issues that need to be addressed in collaboration between our property owners, the organisations concerned and the Central Administration. However, the long-term financing is not yet resolved.
Read more: Green Travel Plan for Lund University adopted 19 June 2025