Through the bicycle gate (www.podilato.gov.cy) will be processed the Incentive Plan for the Purchase of a New Bicycle, with the application period starting on November 1 in order of priority, said the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Giannis Karousos with estimates at the Ministry of Transport to approve 100.000 to 120.000 applications the end of the year.
"The applications for registration will open on November 1 at 09:00 in the morning and it is in order of priority that it will be decided who will become beneficiaries", stressed Mr. Karousos at an event for the presentation of the plan, in the presence of Strovolos Mayor Andreas Papacharalambous , the President of the Paraplegics Organization Dimitris Lamprianidis and the General Secretary of the Cyprus Cycling Federation Stavros Georgiou.
Mr. Karousos invited the people to visit the portal and be informed so that on November 1 he will be ready to submit his application, estimating that the demand will exceed the expectations.
According to the Minister of Transport, based on the procedure, any interested party should visit the portal www.podilato.gov.cy and register, submit his application and after receiving the approval to proceed to the purchase of a bicycle. He will then submit all relevant and required evidence to receive the € 200 grant.
However, Mr. Karousos made it clear that if the interested party who received the approval does not enter the required market data in a period of three weeks, then he loses his order of priority.
As he mentioned, based on the estimates, sponsorships are expected to be given between € 100.000 and € 120.000 before the end of December, with the plan continuing in 2022 and 2023.
"We believe that the request will be enough, with the approval, the applicant has three weeks to submit all the necessary documents. If he does not present them then he loses the order of priority and we will move on to the next one.
It is reminded that the incentive plan for the purchase of a new bicycle for the period 2021 - 2023 amounting to € 570.000 concerns bicycles worth up to € 1000 with the subsidy amounting to € 200, while in the case of the disabled the subsidy amounts to € 800.
The eligible bikes are City Bikes, Road Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Bikes for People with Disabilities. Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are not included.
Asked about this, Mr. Karousos said that "we are ready according to the interest that will arise if and if we need to see what we will do if we can increase the budget".
"But the issue is clear, it depends on the applications that come in," he added.
Mr. Karousos also said that with the first implementation of the plan, data will be obtained regarding the preferences of the interested parties and the final number of applications and the interest of the disabled.
He also noted that there will be a separate budget in the two programs (between regular bicycles and the disabled) and added that if there is no interest from one program, funds will be transferred to the other.
In addition, Mr. Karousos announced that a bicycle repair subsidy plan will be approved in 2022.
"In a country like Cyprus with its short distances and Mediterranean climate, the bicycle can become an alternative source of transportation in addition to sport and entertainment," said Mr Karousos, adding that the public would benefit from the project, further strengthening in this way the effort made to turn citizens towards sustainable means of transport.
Besides, the Mayor of Strovolos, Andreas Papacharalambous, said in his congratulatory message to the Minister for his initiative with which the Local Authorities are fully in agreement.
Acknowledging that the cities have been "built completely anarchically, with the result that all these problems occur and make it difficult to use the bicycle", Mr. Papacharalambous said that "we need these initiatives from the central state to reverse this situation in order to comply and with the goals we have set. "
The Secretary General of the Cyprus Cycling Federation Stavros Georgiou said that cycling, in addition to the physical and mental well-being it offers, "is also a green means of transportation, which significantly benefits the environment, contributes to economic development, contributes to educating the public about road safety and conduct and improves the health of citizens ".
He expressed the joy of the Federation for the Action Plan, announced by the Ministry of Transport, noting that these actions contribute to changing the culture of movement of citizens and the integration of cycling in our daily lives.
The President of the Cyprus Paraplegics Organization Dimitris Lamprianidis thanked the Minister of Transport and the Department of Sustainable Mobility for the interest they have shown in people with disabilities. "We live in an age where it is not the people with disabilities that matter, but the abilities and the people with disabilities when the infrastructure and equipment are there, they can participate like all citizens," he said.
The 16 actions to promote bicycle use
In addition, the Minister of Transport presented the General Action Plan for the Promotion of Bicycle Use for the period 2021-2023 at a total cost of € 4,0 million, part of which is the Subsidy Plan for the Purchase of a New Non-Electric Bicycle.
The actions are the following:
1) Expansion of cycling infrastructure, especially those leading to all levels of schools, sports, shopping and administrative centers.
2) Reduction of the speed limit to 30 km / h in neighborhoods and in historic cores or special cores, as well as in city centers in order to be safer and friendlier to use the bike on the road.
3) Concession / recovery of road width from the vehicle lanes for the creation of bicycle lanes on selected highways.
4) Traffic regulations for cyclists as well, such as a suitable signage system and traffic lights to ensure continuous flow.
5) Day of use of the bicycle e.g. Sunday, (car-free Sundays) and possible closure of the center of each city for exclusive use for bicycles once a month, in collaboration with the Local Authorities.
6) Implementation of a system for renting electric bicycles with favorable terms or lending bicycles to selected points.
7) Free transport of bicycles by public transport vehicles.
8) Create a map of cycling infrastructure available through telephone applications or other navigation devices and through the traffic management platform of the Department of Public Works.
9) Construction of covered and safe bicycle stations.
10) In the context of encouraging employees to go to work by bicycle, (a) locker rooms will be designated in privately owned government buildings and (b) new government buildings that will either be purchased or rented will be provided with locker rooms; and bicycle stations.
11) In collaboration with the Department of Urban Planning and Housing, the policy for the construction of locker rooms / showers and bicycle stations in various business premises, shopping malls, hotels, etc. will be promoted. in order to encourage private sector workers to go to work by bicycle.
12) Promotion of the "I go to work by bike" project. Companies that promote the use of bicycles by their employees as a means of transport and / or have facilities to serve visiting cyclists, will be evaluated and will receive relevant Certification, which will be an indication that it contributes to climate neutrality through its action. and thus strengthens its social corporate responsibility.
13) Incentive plan and subsidy for the purchase of a new bicycle and a subsidy for the repair and maintenance of a bicycle.
14) Creation of a website exclusively for the bicycle where there will be, among other things, special references to the grant plans, to the existing cycling routes, to the Certification scheme of the company "I go to work by bike" - Bike2Work, information on cycling events and actions.
15) Providing free training courses on the proper use of the bicycle and the Road Traffic Code, as well as the cultivation of culture through educational programs, films, experiential workshops and general promotions in relation to the use of the bicycle.
16) Update of markings and standards e.g. where guide signs need to be replaced in relation to bike lanes, etc.
17) Purchase of electric bicycles for official use in government services. In the first phase, 100 bicycles will be purchased.