Fietsersbond studied the shortfalls at 1600 sites at shopping areas, public transport junctions, educational establishments, sports complexes, places of entertainment and other facilities. At 80% of the sites in and near central shopping areas there are insufficient stands at peak times. In large and medium-sized towns problems are greater than in small towns. There are also often insufficient stands at places of entertainment, libraries, post offices and public service buildings. Three-quarters of the sites lack good facilities for fastening a bicycle to the stands. The action plan bicycle theft of the Ministry of the Interior states that good locks are not much use when you cannot affix a bicycle to solid ground. At these sites cyclists therefore do not have the opportunity to adequately protect themselves against bicycle theft. The largest problems occur at educational establishments and sports complexes. The good news is that increasingly local authorities provide free guarded parking in town centres. There are sufficient numbers of stands in approximately half of the sports facilities studied. Swimming pools and sports halls are adequate, with approximately 60%. Sports fields are a negative exception: in 64% of sports fields there are shortages. The really major shortfalls occur more often in small towns as compared to larger towns. There are large differences between the various types of educational establishments. Secondary and higher education are relatively well-off, in contrast to elementary schools. At 42% there are major shortages and only 30% provide sufficient numbers of stands. At 18 elementary schools there were no bicycle parking provisions at all. That makes it impossible for large numbers of children to cycle to school and practice independent mobility in their own relatively safe environment.