As part of his environmental policy, Christian Estrosi, the Member of Parliament and Mayor of Nice, announced the implementation of a bike-sharing program this Friday. With a budget of 3.3 million euros over three years, 1,750 bicycles will be freely circulating on the streets of Nice starting from next July. The revenues from subscriptions and rentals will be donated to the urban community. The Mayor of Nice wanted to promote gentle and ozone-friendly modes of transport: hence, the bicycles. But the Azurean capital is not just any city. What makes it different? Its very steep slopes. No problem, these new means of transportation will be electric and equipped with a small photovoltaic battery. The call for tenders has already been launched. Veloway, a company from Veolia, is in charge of preparing the bicycles. They have also “committed to recruit” staff within the municipality, comments Christian Estrosi.
Implementation in Three Phases
The first phase will cover the city center and the East-South districts (pink zone) from July 2009. Initially, 90 stations will be equipped with 900 bicycles. In November, the Western districts encompassing Magnan to the departmental center of Alpes Maritimes (orange zone), will have 30 stations and 300 additional bicycles. It is only in April 2010 that the Northeast districts and Ariane (yellow zone) will be supplied with 55 stations and 550 bicycles. In total, 175 stations (at 300 meters from each other), 1,750 bicycles, and 3,100 docking stations will be installed in the Azurean capital.
Nice currently boasts 7 km of bike lanes, but more are also planned. “The goal is to reach about forty kilometers within five years,” explains Christian Estrosi. Following the ones on Avenue Jean Médecin will be Boulevards Gambetta, Borriglione, and St Roch.
However, if the city of Nice wants to limit the subscription cost, the competition looks tough. With a subscription of 25 euros per year, Nice is far outpaced by Marseille, which charges only 7 euros per year.
