The bicycle as a pillar of urban mobility to curb the spread of coronavirus. Pressure from environmental associations has prompted the first responses from the government, cities and regions.
The bicycle as the most suitable means of transport to encourage in the age of coronavirus — this is the request made by a number of associations directly to the President of the Council of Ministers in an open letter. In turn, the government and regions are working alongside municipalities to decide which strategies and incentives to adopt, in order to prevent citizens — given the restrictions on the use of public transport — from choosing en masse to return to their private cars, with the resulting consequences for traffic and environmental pollution.
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"The scenario is one in which the use of local public transport will be greatly reduced, both because of the maintenance of restrictions and because of the public's distrust of taking public transport," reads one passage of the letter sent by cycling and environmental associations, including Fiab, Fridays for Future, Legambiente and Salvaciclisti, addressed to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Among the proposals are: the creation of new regulations and soft infrastructure for cycling and pedestrian mobility, including derogations from the Highway Code; the introduction of economic incentives for the purchase of electric bikes, micro-mobility services and per-kilometre reimbursements; and the promotion of smart working and home-delivery services by bicycle and cargo bike.
The government has in the meantime announced the first measures to ease restrictions. Good news for sport cyclists: the limit on physical activity within the immediate vicinity of one's home has been lifted, though the self-certification requirement remains and has been updated in the meantime.
Transport Minister Paola De Micheli has already spoken out on the matter, announcing to Corriere della Sera her intention to amend the Highway Code to facilitate the opening of temporary cycle lanes and the definition of bike lanes, as well as to broaden the range of companies required to have an in-house mobility manager. In Parliament, De Micheli also stated her intention to introduce a two-hundred-euro voucher for the purchase of bicycles or other vehicles such as segways, hoverboards and scooters.
The capital's mayor, Virginia Raggi, also received a letter signed by Fiab Roma Ruotalibera and Salvaiciclisti Roma, calling for specific measures to create routes such as bike lanes delineated by jersey barriers, a bicycle ring road and cycling axes along some of the capital's consular roads, towards the La Sapienza university campus, the possibility for bicycles to use bus lanes excluding tram lanes, and the creation of 30-kilometre-per-hour zones. Rome Capitale appears to be starting to respond to these requests, with the Agenzia per la Mobilità having begun to carry out checks and studies on a number of temporary cycling routes that will make use of part of the roadway. In addition to bicycles, Rome Capitale also appears to have its sights set on electric scooters, particularly shared ones.
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One of the regions hardest hit by the Covid-19 emergency is deciding to allocate one million euros to incentivise bike-to-work schemes and cycling as an alternative to the car. This was announced by Fiab, which explained that it was Emilia-Romagna's environment councillor Irene Priolo who stated as much during a Facebook Live session. "Mandatory social distancing will be with us for the months ahead, and it would therefore be risky to rely solely on public transport. The bicycle thus becomes the essential ally in guaranteeing health and safety in our cities. Fiab has also set this out in an open letter addressed to politicians and institutions, in which it presents seven concrete proposals."
Every city is adopting different strategies to prevent roads from quickly turning into endless traffic jams. Brussels has decided to give priority in city-centre streets to cyclists and pedestrians, limiting the speed of all vehicles to twenty kilometres per hour. This measure is accompanied by the possibility for pedestrians and cyclists to also use the roadways of the streets affected by the provision.
There are cities where bike sharing has seen a notable increase. As reported by the website of the European Cyclists' Federation, two of the United States' main cities, New York and Chicago, have seen a significant rise in cycling trips, particularly via bike sharing. In Berlin, it was decided to allow the free use of shared bicycles for thirty minutes at a time, multiple times throughout the day.
While Lisbon has encouraged the use of shared bicycles for food and medicine deliveries, in London, Glasgow, Bogotá and New York access to bike sharing for workers in essential sectors has been made free of charge.
The measures being considered by Italian, European and global cities, also thanks to the pressure and proposals of cycling mobility and environmental associations, will be the first steps towards establishing the bicycle as a central mode of transport in everyday urban life — not only because of the coronavirus Covid-19.
