On September 25; just two hours after the start of Italy’s second bike buying incentive scheme already 2,000 bicycles were sold with a total government subsidy of 230,000 euro! On September 18, at the opening of the 67th EICMA International Bicycle Exhibition show Italy’s Minister of the Environment Stefania Prestigiacomo announced that the government has allocated another 7.6 million euro to spur consumer purchases of bicycles; earlier the Italian government granted in total 11.4 million euro as incentives for buying bikes. These millions (which were also allocated to spur people to buy new and more environmental friendly scooters and motorcycles), resulted in about 40,000 bikes extra sold in Italy. The extra 7.6 million is however expected to raise an even much better sales score of 70,000 bikes. Italy’s Minister of the Environment Prestigiacomo stressed at the start of the campaign the importance to dedicate government funds for the development of cycling paths and routes. She pointed to the fact that most of the thousands villages and cities in Italy have old city centers which are ideal for bicycles and e-Bikes!
Read on.
