Municipality of Palaio Faliro

Highlighting the operation of the City Bicycle Sharing System i-bike, which operates on the seafront of Athens, with the sponsorship of the National Bank.

Citizens and visitors of the four coastal municipalities of Paleo Faliro, Alimos, Glyfada and Varis-Voulas-Vouliagmenis.

The action was organized as part of the European Mobility Week and took place on 22 September 2018, from 17.00 to 20.00.

The i-bike City Shared Bicycle System was installed for the first time in Thessaloniki in 2014 and in June 2016 it was implemented on the beach front of Athens. In the context of the European Mobility Week, the 4 coastal municipalities celebrated the event with a big bicycle race, which started from Paleo Faliro, with intermediate stops and information at the beach of Alimos, at the beach of Glyfada, ending at the 2nd Beach of Voulas, with music and other events promoting the use of bicycles in daily commuting.

World cycling champions Christos and Zafeiris Volikakis also took part in the action (apart from the hundreds of citizens of all ages).

In promoting the use of bicycles and highlighting the benefits of sustainable mobility in daily commuting, through the organization of the bicycle race, the Municipality of Paleo Faliro collaborated with the 3 coastal municipalities of Alimos, Glyfada and Vari-Voulas-Vouliagmenis, the companies BrainBox Technology & Bikesharing , sponsored by the National Bank and the valuable help of the Traffic and the Air Force.

The human resources of the municipality participated in the action, with the program manager being the Deputy Mayor of Technical Service of the Municipality of Palaio Faliro, Mr. G. Asimakopoulos, in collaboration with the Deputy Mayor of Education-Social Assistance-Sports & European Programs, Mr. G. Fosteropoulos.

Coastal front starting from the Municipality of Palaio Faliro and stops in the Municipality of Alimos, the Municipality of Glyfada and final destination the Municipality of Vari-Voulas-Vouliagmenis.

The City Bike Sharing System i-bike met with a positive response in Paleo Faliro, serving thousands of users. The results of use justify the implementation of the system by the municipality, which adopted sustainable mobility methods in practice, following the example of large European cities. It is worth noting that at the 12 bicycle stations more than 19,000 leases were made and more than 150,000 km were traveled by bicycle, resulting in the saving of at least 25 tons of carbon dioxide.

The benefits of implementing sustainable mobility and in particular the use of bicycles for the residents of the municipality of Palaio Faliro are many. Cycling is multi-therapeutic for the body, mind and spirit. Daily cycling strengthens the immune system, exercises the muscles and skeleton, improves and strengthens the cardio-respiratory system, prevents cholesterol-related diseases and helps with posture. Contributes to mental and emotional health. Exercises the body helping to fight obesity. It promotes a cleaner environment by reducing pollutants (each km of cycling saves 271 g of carbon dioxide compared to the car). It provides a general improvement of the quality of life in the urban fabric, awareness of citizens in the use of alternative modes of transportation in the city as well as introduction and promotion of sustainable modes of transportation.