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Cyclists in Florence, Source: Depositphotos

Florence pays you to cycle rather than drive

Florence pays you to cycle rather than drive

The scheme is primarily aimed at daily commuters

The City of Florence announced that it has set aside 1.2 million euros – funds, which it will use to encourage drivers to ditch their motor vehicles for bicycles on their daily commute to work or university. The scheme will kick in from 3 June and will last for one year with the aim of enhancing a shift in mobility habits towards more sustainable and healthier modes of transport.

The incentive programme is called Pedala, Firenze ti premia (Pedal, Florence rewards you) and it offers participants the chance to earn up to 30 euros a month. They will receive 20 cents per kilometre, plus five cents for each kilometre on "generic" cycles as long as they remain within the municipality of Florence.

The plan is to also reward commuters who already use bicycles on their daily trips, however, those who choose to leave their cars in favour of pedals will get slightly more. Cyclists who have already been using their bikes will get up to 15 cents per kilometre.

You'll need a bike and also this

People can start registering as participants from 13 May, and the registration will be done through the Pin Bike app. Once they register, the potential cycling commuters will be sent an anti-fraud device, which is a patented anti-fraud system for the certification, monitoring and gamification of urban routes.

The Bluetooth hardware device will certify the actual use of the bicycle. In addition, users will receive a handlebar smartphone holder and signal lights. However, only 2,000 such kits will be distributed.

And regular daily earnings are not the only incentive. The City of Florence says it will also give a bonus of 100 euros each month to the 200 users who accrue the most points on the app through various "virtuous actions", including the number of kilometres cycled as well as participation in events and questionnaires.

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