The best equipped have always been the countries of Northern Europe. The bike as a privileged means for travel of all kinds has passed through generations of Danes, Swedes, Norwegians. Thus they do not need state incentives for the purchase of the vehicle, because sustainable mobility is a social value for them. Italy is first in the construction of bikes, but not in terms of use.
The European Mobility Week (SEM), however, it is also a test for the countries of the North. Every year it compares experiences and national policies dedicated to two wheels to decongest cities and make progress on environmental choices. This year the initiative yes takes place from 16 to 22 September and chose the hashtag #CHOOSE US to advertise the event. In Italy, two years ago, the bicycle market was worth 1,35 billion euros, largely made up of small and medium-sized companies. A richness and a tradition that - again in 2019 - consecrated Italy as the first European country for production and export.
Government incentive plans with the Minister Enrico Giovannini to ask for more cycle lanes in the Municipalities Bikes and cycle paths, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna in pole position give hope for other excellent performances. The SEM 2019 edition - they tell the Fiab (Italian Environment and Bicycle Federation) saw 382 events in 175 Italian cities, effectively transforming the month of September into the month of sustainable mobility. Now that the pandemic is slowing down, membership forecasts are all up.
“Take care of your environment: choose the bike!“ is certainly a good slogan to involve a greater number of people, organizations, companies and associations. On the other hand, the European Commission has chosen as flocal theme health, indicating the bicycle as the most valid alternative to motorized vehicles. "With careful planning of a mobility system that provides for a massive presence of bicycles and pedestrians, our cities become more livable", they explain again in Fiab.
Circulation on two wheels certainly changes the face of the metropolis. But Italy needs rrethinking the entire urban traffic system starting with the big cities integrating buses, parking, metro, ztl. Strategies that will make sense for the environment and public health only if they address the new themes of mobility such as differentiated timetables in schools, remote working, journeys between the center and the periphery.
We are on the eve of an important electoral round for the cities and there are dozens of outgoing administrators unable to address these aspects. An experiment to follow in the coming days is to Friday September 17: National Bike To Work Day. That day, everyone is invited to try, at least once, to ride their bike from home to work, to realize how much this choice can become a daily habit. A kind of self-analysis to understand how ready you are to take over the dead times that accumulate in city traffic. Maybe even to emulate the Swedes a little.
