The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Thursday 40 million in state aid to promote cycling, of which 20 will be allocated to the purchase of electric bikes (both for individuals and companies), and another 20 to develop new public bicycle rental systems, such as those that already exist in Madrid (Bicimad) and Barcelona (Bicing), and make the current ones cheaper. With this excuse, he has asked the mayors to leave behind the “anticlimatic obscurity” of those cities that eliminate bike lanes and to bet on sustainable mobility. In addition, he has presented a campaign in support of public transport which tries to show subways, trains and buses as more modern and fun than high-end cars, and which links with the phrase that Sánchez himself said on September 4, when he said that he aspired to a society “with more public transport and fewer Lamborghinis.”
The new campaign stars young kids, one of whom sings to the rhythm of hip hop the benefits of public transport. “If you’re going to move, let it be with class / if you do it in Lambo [por Lamborghini] “You might be late,” says the protagonist from a city bus, while a flashy sports car remains stuck in a traffic jam, angering its driver. The scene then moves to subways or commuter trains, where travelers—of all ages—can read or chat while traveling. “You get there in no time on public transport / you avoid traffic jams and it’s cheap.” […] “Traveling by bus is not like getting down in the mud / It takes half as long as in your own car,” the singer continues, while the driver of the Lamborghini gets off, desperate, and ends up taking the train. It ends with the slogan: “Public transport, do you get it?” spot It tries to bring public transport – which suffered a reputation crisis after the pandemic – into the mental field of the modern, the groundbreaking, the cool, just like car commercials usually do.
“Investing in public transport means investing in people’s well-being and meeting that social demand,” explained Sánchez, accompanied by the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente. “The metro, bus, train and bikes are a daily part of people’s lives. If scientific evidence shows anything, it is that when public transport is efficient and accessible, people use it more and choose it over private transport: because it helps them save money, because it is faster, more sustainable, or allows them to gain time to read, listen to a podcast or chat. And it improves people’s lives,” he added.
The president has outlined the various aids – 4 billion in two years – that the Executive has allocated to these means, including the bonus of more than 50% of urban transport tickets, the youth summer campaign with discounts of up to 90% and the temporary free use of commuter and medium distance trains. Thanks to these measures, the number of passengers reached a record in July, according to data from the INE: that month 423 million passengers used public transport, a record number. “Public transport is not an imposition of the left, but a preference of the citizens. When people are given the opportunity of cheap and efficient public mobility, they take it,” he continued.
These subsidies, however, had not reached the bicycle. Until now. “We are going to incorporate the bicycle into the subsidies for public transport,” Sánchez announced. “We are going to allocate 20 million euros to extend the public bicycle systems that are already in place in different cities. Specifically, we are going to allocate 10 million to reduce the fares of existing systems, such as BiciMad in Madrid or Bicing in Barcelona; and another 10 million to bring this alternative to other cities in the country that do not yet have it.” The European Next Generation funds already included allocations to create or expand this type of public bicycle system —from which Madrid, for example, benefited—, while in this case the funds will come directly from the Ministry of Transport.
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New state aid
The other leg of the cycling aid is aimed at individuals and companies. “We are going to subsidize the purchase of pedal-assisted bicycles with an additional 20 million euros [es decir, bicis eléctricas] for everyday mobility, in a program that will benefit both individuals and cycle logistics companies delivering goods in urban areas,” he explained. In principle, 15 of them will be allocated to private citizensand another five for bicycle delivery companies. “It is about increasing the modal share of the bicycle in daily travel and having more bicycles in more cities, for more people,” he concluded.
Until now, there has been support for the purchase of these vehicles from some cities and communities, but this is the first time that it has been implemented by the central government. In fact, a persistent criticism from cycling groups pointed out that, until now, there was state aid for the purchase of cars, vans and electric delivery vehicles – with the Moves Plan – but not for bicycles, which also serve to promote urban logistics and sustainable mobility.
The normal thing in similar municipal or regional aid is that the user or company buys an electric bike up to a maximum price, and the administration then returns a percentage of the total (which usually ranges from 20% to 50%). In the case of the new aid announced this Thursday, the fine print is still to be seen, from the percentage subsidized to those who can opt for it.
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