Spanish government to subsidise public bike sharing
We’ve seen a few key government moves that have increased the use of bicycles, the UK’s cycle to work initiative, France’s (now ended) eBike subsidies (among others) and now Spain’s government has pledged funding to help get more people on bikes via the reduction of public bike sharing tariffs for users as well as funding to set up more bike share infrastructure.
The Council of Ministers has approved 30% of the typical cost recurring public bicycle loan services. The grants will allow for unlimited trips for a certain period of time and will apply throughout 2025. Local authorities in Spain will be able to access this funding by providing an additional 20% discount through their own budgets.
Jesús Freire, Secretary General of AMBE (Spain’s association of brands and bicycles), said: “At AMBE we celebrate the fact that shared bicycles are considered an integral part of the transport system, hence our support for this measure and the expansion of these systems to those cities and towns where they are not available, as well as the improvement of existing services, through their electrification and expansion of the number of bicycles and stations.”
The programme also includes grants for infrastructure, including a minimum 40% of the total required. The criteria has been set out as share stations having to be less than 200 metres from towns, frequency of use of bikes (based on estimates, naturally) and preference will also be given to areas where towns and conurbations do not yet have bike share facilities.
Promoting sustainable mobility
The Government underlines the potential of bicycle mobility, especially for journeys of up to 10 km, which are the most common in urban and metropolitan environments according to the Big Data of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility . The growing incorporation of electric bicycles in these services contributes to overcoming barriers such as topography or the physical condition of users, making the bicycle a more accessible and efficient option.
The ministerial orders with the bases and calls for applications for these grants will be published shortly. Interested local entities should be alert to submit their projects and guarantee access to this important resource for sustainable mobility in 2025.
Hat-tip Cristobal Perez.