Pedaling for health and the environment is a national goal – Express

To encourage healthy lifestyle habits, reduce energy dependence on fossil fuels, to humanize the public space and reduce road accidents are some of the Commitment goals by bike, launched Tuesday in Aveiro.

the initiative developed by the Technology Platform bicycle and Soft Mobility of the University of Aveiro, already has a membership of close to a hundred organizations, including local authorities, associations, universities, inter-municipal communities and businesses that take the effort to create better able to put citizens, staff and students to pedal more to improve their health and mobility in cities.

“we aim that this joint work can help put on the public agenda the theme of bicycles in its multiple dimensions, align the efforts of various partners and take advantage of existing skills in Portugal within the institutional fabric, academic, business and civic “take the coordinators of the initiative in a statement sent to newsrooms.

Increase by 10 percent the current share of bike trips between home and work / school (from 0.5% to 0.55%) and reduce by 10% (from 60 to 50%) car use these visits are some of the goals. To these join others such as the reduction of pollutant emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, improved quality of life and the fight against obesity, and also the stimulation of domestic production of bicycles (Portugal is currently the third largest European producer of bicycles, after Germany and Italy).

the multiply up public investment programs, including the UBike, sponsored by the Institute for Mobility and Transport (IMT) and directed to higher education institutions. This program includes 5.5 million euros in 2016 for for college students to move on shared bicycles.

Also the National Reform Plan, recently approved by the Government, including 24.8 million (80% of EU funds) to acquire six thousand bikes and put the Portuguese cycling.

Among the signatories of the “Commitment” appear, for now, the University of Aveiro, the business association ABIMOTA the Portuguese federations of Cycling and Cycling and Bicycle users, the MUBI -Association promoting the use of the velocipede, several public entities and more than a dozen municipalities and four dozen companies. Anyone who wants to join can do so until the end of June.