Headed by mayor Rudolf Schicker Vienna intends to increase the percentage of cycling at a pace. More bicycle parking spaces, expansion of the cycling network and expansion of the rental bike project are all planned.
A campaign to provide a so-called eco-bonus on the purchase of a bicycle was so successful that a continuation has been decided. Vienna local authorities have already provided a trade-in bonus of 70 Euro 500 times, and the campaign will be expanded to another 500 bonuses.
‘At this time new applications are being put on a waiting list’ states the website where Vienna residents may apply for the bonus. And local authorities say the telephone hotline hasn’t stopped ringing either. By now considerably more than 1000 candidates for the eco-bonus have been registered.
The eco-project is being implemented in co-operation with the Austrian motoring club ARBÖ. The old bicycles are repaired at sheltered workshops later.
In Italy, too, purchase of a new bicycle is heavily subsidised. The campaign EcoIncentive that started in late September led to the purchase of 2000 bicycles in the two hours after the start alone. Over the next few months 7.6 million Euro will be set aside for the project, allowing some 70,000 bicycles to be purchased.