The first closed bike rack in Elche will come into operation on Monday 19 December, located at the bus station.
This was announced by the Councillor for Mobility and the Environment, Esther Díez, who presented the free service that will be extended to neighbourhoods and districts and with which it is intended to promote cyclist mobility in the municipality and guarantee “closed parking , safe and comfortable for those who want to use their private bicycle”, Díez pointed out, explaining that they had chosen to “start at a key point for intermodality” so that users can park their bike and use other means of public transport such as the buses from the terminal itself or the trains at the Elche-Parque railway.
This covered and intelligent bike rack will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it has involved an investment of 48,339.50 euro, and is made of translucent high-density polycarbonate and aluminium. It has 26 parking spaces in an area of approximately 30 square metres, as well as two plugs for electric bikes, and has video recording cameras. And at the top of the structure erected by Up2City, acoustic and environmental pollution metres have been arranged that are already collecting data.
Those interested in using the bike park must download the “PVerde” smartphone application starting next Monday and register their personal data, including their credit card number “as a guarantee, but the service is free of charge”, the councillor has stressed. With it they can open and close the door of the bike rack, either with a phone call or the physical keyboard. Private bicycles may be parked for a period of 24 uninterrupted hours from Monday to Friday or 72 on weekends, to ensure rotation.
“We hope this bike rack is well received”, said Díez, accompanied by the coordinator of Sustainable Development and Urban Mobility and the City Council’s industrial technical engineer for Traffic, Juan Carlos Aranda and Andrés Fuster, respectively, and the CEO of Up2City, Lalo Blanes. Likewise, the councillor has recalled that the towns that have been betting on cycling mobility for years also trust in this kind of solutions that, in the case of Elche, will be added to the expansion of BiciElx or training courses carried out by the Cycling Unit of the Local Police (UCPLE), among other projects and initiatives aligned with the Elx2030 strategy.
