Well done, Milan!

photos by Miloš Milošević

The host-city of EXPO 2015 is finally acting sensible towards the environment.

After the ECOPASS project that was supposed to remove number of cars from the city centre, BikeMi - a bike sharing project that exists in many other European cities already, came to light.

You can now take a bike in one of the many bike points installed in the central area of the city and leave it in some other piazza that offers the same service.

The BikeMi official site provides detailed information on how the system works, although it seems to be to not so straight-forward and maybe a little scary at the first sight.

Nevertheless it seems to work well and the most of the "important" part of the city has been well covered.

Unfortunately only annual card is available at the moment, ranging around €25.

The first 30 minutes are free, while the every following 30 minutes (max 2 hours) costs €0.50. You can rent a bike between 7.00AM - 11.00PM.

If you stay over two hours, you pay €2.00 per hour.

If this happens 3 times, you get your account suspended and then you need to register again. In case you don't return your bike in 24 hours, a €150 is taken away from your credit card.

Being someone who lived in Milan for 6 years I find this idea a real refreshment for the City and a true need. There are many commuters who go to work and back on bikes, but having these bike hotspots will really help a lot in reducing the number of cars in the centre, and making people aware of the environment.

Bikes are in Milan public transport colour which and are managed by the ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi), company that is in charge of all public transport.

Well done!