Arco Launches Free Bicycles to Reduce Car Use and Promote Sustainability

With the opening of the bypass road and the removal of most traffic from the city center, residents of Arco can now use bicycles more frequently. At least, that’s the hope of the Municipality, which has dedicated 12 bicycles for free to encourage this good habit: 6 for the public and 6 for its office employees. They can be picked up at the Foro Boario and enjoyed freely for two hours.

Details of the initiative and how it works

To promote the success of the initiative, promoted by the environmental councilor Fabrizio Miori, the formalities have been reduced to the essentials. The bicycles are kept outside the fire station, and to use them, only an identification document is required. In case of the fire brigade’s absence, users can turn to the nearby municipal police station.

Initially, the service will operate from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. “If, as we hope, people will appreciate the opportunity to move around with these healthy bicycles,” comments councilor Miori, “new parking areas will be created at other points in Arco and possibly in the surrounding hamlets. The hours will also likely be extended to weekends.”

Since this is a service, not a rental—obviously the latter being the prerogative of cycle shops—it is important to specify that only residents of the C9 zone can use these bikes, not tourists of any kind. Miori emphasizes that the main goal of the program is to discourage the use of cars for short and non-essential trips.

Commentary on the Municipality’s goals and commitments

“Unfortunately, it will take some time to see concrete results,” comments a worried Miori, the environmental councilor. “The reason is the deeply rooted misconception of preferring cars over any other means of transportation. Always. Just look at the current static: the new bypass has diverted no more than 40% of the traffic from the city.”

The remaining traffic, which still circulates between the Sarca bridge and via S. Caterina, consists of people coming from hamlets or nearby towns.” The ‘two-wheel operation’ is not only aimed at the local population. Two shiny bicycles have been handed over to the police, and equally many to the technical office and the anti-abortion groups.

“The municipality must set a good example,” concludes Miori, “it cannot just preach and then behave differently.”