A few little adivces to make Milan the bike's capital city
Cyclopride, “Bimbi in bici” (Children by bicycle), Bike sharing. Milan’s biking ambitions could become even bigger
10 May, 2015
The big
defy is to increase the daily usage of the bike in order to influence the
entire traffic, the air pollution and the city life style. This aim cannot be
accomplished simply through the bike sharing. The need to possess a credit
card, the impossibility to place stations everywhere, time limits keep far from
the bike sharing many of the “young people without motor” (“Giovani senza
motori”, an Eco dalle Città initiative to support foot and bike mobility).
That’s true for everybody, of course, but I’m talking about young people
because for them using bicycles would be even more necessary and possible. I
had the opportunity – thanks to the Eco dalle città project “Giovani senza
motori” – to experience the astonishment of some boys and girls who live in the
Baggio district when they realized that they can carry their bikes (for free)
on the tube at Gambara. But, most of all, they can reach Colonne or Navigli on
time, in less than half an hour. Thousands of boys cannot afford the means of
public transport and they don’t use a bike just because culturally and socially
they are not motivated. We then need to think about a political, social and
popular bike-mobility proposal. Ciclhobby and some other associations objected
to the Municipality that it’s too liked to an infra-structural vision of
cycling – stone wall lanes – and too limited in its objectives. We can do much
with little money. To those worried about thefts we may answer with costless
and light forms of safekeeping. It’s a general interest that people use cikes.
Let’s start saying it in any occasion.
Paolo Hutter