As promised I bring you theinterview integral of Andrea Zanzini, Councilor for Environmental and Energy Policies of the Municipality of Rimini. The fashion of the Bike sharing, as well as in other major European cities and the capital of tourism, it immediately relaunches and launches itself into the new great challenge: sustainable tourism.
What does free bicycles for public use mean? It means the possibility of leaving your car in a parking lot and with a personalized key and without spending a euro, reach the historic center of the city with one of the 52 bicycles made available by the Municipality of Rimini. With the same key it is possible to do it in 60 other Italian cities.
What do I have to do to be able to take it? To pick up the bicycles it is sufficient to be over 18 years old, reach the Public Relations Office-URP in corso d'Augusto, make a payment of 10 € (which will be returned when the citizen no longer wants to use the service), present an identity document and after a few small formalities the key is given to be inserted in the racks to pick up any of the 52 bicycles in the city.
How long can I keep the bike? Each bicycle can also be used continuously from 6 am to 23 pm every day of the week.
Are they sturdy? Yes, they are robust with puncture-resistant but not heavy tires, instantly recognizable, with a smooth ratio. Obviously standard, that is, they must be able to be used by everyone, you could hardly participate in a cycling race but I assure you that you can also take long walks.
What if they steal it from me? Each bicycle has its own padlock with which it is possible to tie it to any rack when you want to take a break or for example go to an office, should it be stolen in any case, after reporting to the competent bodies, if there is no responsibility of the user, the Municipality will buy a new one at its own expense.
What about the future? It is not an imaginable service even for tourists, millions, who experience Rimini in the summer discovering the historic center. How many would you need, 5000? Well, the project cost a total of € 50.000, of which more than 33.000 financed by the Environmental Action Plan of the Emilia Romagna Region and the Province of Rimini, with the common goal of reducing city traffic and the pollution of the air we breathe.
The costs include bicycles, racks with an electronic system for recognizing the user and his preferences as well as any incorrect behavior, installation of the racks themselves, a periodic control and maintenance system carried out with methane vehicles by a social cooperative, telematic monitoring of use.
Furthermore, the free collaboration of the Pedalando e Camminando Association - Associated with the Italian Bicycle Federation, will allow us to carry out a supervision of the service to be able to adapt it over time to the most widespread needs. Precisely this type of project was rewarded by further funding from Ministry of the Environment which will allow us in 2009 to be able to at least double the available bicycles. This is the most widespread project in Italy (60 cities on the network) and is at the same time the least expensive, suitable for medium-sized cities such as Rimini.
It would be extraordinary if the interest of tourism companies, which could translate into a "Bikesharing point" at the hotel or bathing establishment, for example as a service to the guest, would allow us to reach the number of bicycles that you hypothesize with undoubted advantages for city traffic and the air we breathe.
