In Senica there will be an alternative transport option. Senica residents will be able to use the so-called shared bicycles to move around the city. The Senica municipality was successful and for the project “Shared bicycles on the territory of the town of Senica (BIKESHARING)” received a non-refundable financial contribution from the Integrated Regional Operational Programme in the amount of more than 570 thousand euros.
The aim of the project is to motivate residents to use the cycling infrastructure so that they prefer cycling to motorised transport. The system will consist of 145 bicycles parked in 23 docking stations, covering a strategic area of the city, including adjacent urban districts.
In recent years, there has been a growing tendency in the Slovak Republic to introduce a more efficient alternative to transport through a system of shared bicycles, so-called bikesharing. Shared bicycles are an affordable, environmentally friendly, fast and reliable option for non-motorised transport. This topic is most closely linked to active leisure, commuting to work, solving tourism, mobility, recreation and last but not least, modernising the city’s transport policy.
A bike-sharing system is an automated network of docking stations and bikes connected by a software interface. Users will be able to rent a bicycle from one docking station, use it and then return it to the same or any other station in the network. “The city is keen to expand the use of the bicycle as a common and safe means of transport within the city by implementing the project. Sufficient accessibility to the use of this mode of transport will be ensured by 23 docking stations, which will be located around the city so that they are accessible to all residents from all city districts,” explains the city’s project manager of the Senica City Council Dana Jurková.
The City of Senica is successfully building a safe cycling network to integrate cycling with other modes of transport. “We have built almost six kilometres of new cycling routes and we are working on the second stage, which will connect other parts of the city to the cycle route network. A lot of additional cycling infrastructure has been built and more will be added. That is why I think that shared bicycles and cycling in general will be a great alternative to motorised transport in Senica,” argues the city’s mayor Martin Džačovský.
In addition to the shared bicycles and docking stations themselves, the project will also provide additional infrastructure in the city with an additional 20 U-shaped bicycle racks designed to park 40 bicycles. These racks will be placed on Štefánikova Street in front of the Senica Municipal Office and on Liberation Square in front of the Roman Catholic Church.
