Public bike hire due next year

PALMA
A PUBLIC bicycle hire system is going to be introduced in Palma in the final quarter of next year. Designed to encourage widespread use of two-wheeled transport, the so-called “bicing” facility has already been introduced in other Spanish cities including Barcelona and Sevilla.

Maria Luisa Gracia, Transport Director on Palma City Council, announced the plans on Sunday at the celebration of a third “Bicing Festival” which ran on a closed cycle lane circuit of three kilometres along the Avenidas and the Paseo Maritimo as far as Avenida Argentina. The advantage, she said, of introducing the system after its appearance in other cities is that Palma will know how to tackle the problems that had arisen by way of “teething troubles.” These usually related to bicycle theft or operational problems giving rise to customer complaints.

Gracia also explained that the City Council is currently locked in negotiations with the Local Police and the company which has been contracted to administer the hiring procedure and bicycle maintenance over the bylaws which will govern the system. She said that existing laws over the use of two-wheeled transport in the city were “a little out of date” and “ambiguous” and details needed to be firmed up.