Bike to Work: Emilia Romagna is betting everything on two wheels.

The Emilia Romagna Region has announced a plan to encourage the use of bikes to respond to the problem of social distancing, as well as to limit traffic and the related Smog.

The 30 municipalities that signed the Pair (Regional Integrated Air Plan), including Modena, Bologna, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Piacenza, will have 3.3 million euros available to encourage the use of bicycles in the cities.

The project provides funding up to 70% for interventions aimed at creating lanes reserved for local public transport and cycle paths, installation of racks to avoid theft during stops and other measures to make cycling easier.

Furthermore, from the beginning of Phase 3, employees of Emilian and Romagna companies will be able to enjoy a bonus equal to 0.20 cents for each kilometer traveled by bicycle on the work-home journey up to a maximum of 50 euros per month per person, in addition and to reductions in the cost of bike sharing and storage in velostations.

Finally, 300,000 euros will be allocated for railway season tickets for the purchase of folding bikes that can be used for initial and final journeys.

«It is an initiative that we support with regional resources because we believe that moving private mobility as much as possible to sustainable and ecological means can contribute to significantly improving life in cities. – reports the Regional Councilor for the Environment, Irene Priolo – A choice that we believe is even more necessary in this emergency phase to provide quality responses to people's travel needs while ensuring safety and health at the same time. Mobility, environment and sustainability must become synonymous with the approach that the Region will implement in this mandate."

Everything therefore seems to point to a "green" and eco-sustainable response, also supported by the 2020 Mobility Bonus.

«We were ready with the provision for a couple of weeks, but we wanted to wait for the 'bike bonus' included in the Relaunch Decree by Minister De Micheli to promote a complementary measure and allow a greater number of citizens to be able to receive a contribution for the purchase of bicycles and other electric vehicles, rewarding the Municipalities that signed the Regional Air Plan. – sites of the Municipalities involved, indicated in Resolution no. 484/2020 (Argelato, Bologna, Calderara di Reno, Carpi, Casalecchio di Reno, Castelfranco Emilia, Castel Maggiore, Castenaso, Cento, Cesena, Faenza, Ferrara, Forlì, Formigine, Granarolo of Emilia, Imola, Lugo, Modena, Ozzano Emilia, Parma, Piacenza, Pianoro, Ravenna, Reggio Emilia, Riccione, Rimini, San Lazzaro di Savena, Sasso Marconi, Sassuolo, Zola Predosa). The regional councilor for Mobility and Infrastructure, Andrea Corsini, reveals - Furthermore, with the structural interventions that we are going to finance, we will make it increasingly advantageous to travel on two wheels. A measure that adds to the approximately 60 already active in Emilia-Romagna for the development of cycle mobility and the over 250 kilometers of cycle paths, financed with approximately 35 million euros".

There is a need to change our habits.

The mask will perhaps accompany us for a long time, but the bike will become increasingly central to our lifestyle as well as a passion to which we dedicate our free time.