Cemusa Closes Roma'n'Bike Due to Rome Government Delays

According to The Roman Forum, Rome's nascent bike-sharing program, Roma'n'Bike, has had the plug pulled by its operator, outdoor advertising company Cemusa.

States The Roman Forum, "Following July last’s inauguration the Spain-based multinational specialising in outdoor public furniture, pulled out of its out-of-pocket sponsorship lamenting the municipal administration’s delays in regulating what should have ultimately turned into a privately run – although competitively priced – bike rental scheme.

"Nine months into the scheme – and almost three months after the expiry of six-month long free trials – Cemusa has – reports daily La Repubblica – tired of the Municipal administration’s ‘dithering’ on the subject of a formal contract.

"Faced with such assertive cold-shouldering mayor Alemanno has pledged to patch things up with Cemusa or, alternatively, hand management of the service over to the city’s public transport company ATAC. Biking associations have threatened to stage a ‘saddled’ protest tomorrow, kicking off at 11 a.m. from Piazza di Spagna."

image credit: Fang Yuxiang

Update as of March 17: Thanks to Blog fan Michele Iurilli, Abitare a Roma reports that due to the public uproar about losing the bike-sharing service, Cemusa changed its mind and is keeping the service running. A meeting was convened by the Office of the Mayor and Cemusa to resolve the matter by the end of March.

Bon Giorno, Roma!

The world's newest bike-sharing program is in Rome, Italy. Called Roma'n'Bike, the program has 19 stations and 200 bikes spread throughout the historic center of the city and is run by Spanish advertising company Cemusa with Bicincitta'. (Sorry, Pope, no stations are in Vatican City.)

According to Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno (and translated by Google), "This initiative is an incentive to create opportunities and not a punitive system, with alternatives closer to citizens who can change the habits of the population. Cycling is a beautiful experience, even fun, which creates a more direct contact with urban reality."

Rome's VIPs on Roma'n'Bike

To use a bike, one must register with the program at one of the seven tourist information centers and pay a 30 EUR ($46) annual membership fee. Bikes are available between 7am - 11pm daily. The first 30 minutes are free, the second 30-minute period will run 1 EUR, the third 2 EUR, and every half hour onward will be billed at 4 EUR. (Remember, this is bike-sharing, not bike rental, and is intended for short trips. Customers needing a bike for a longer time period should consider renting a bike instead. This has been a Public Service Announcement by MetroBike...)

Buona fortuna, Roma'n'Bike!


Article from Fondazioni Italiani in Italian and English.

image credit: Roma'n'Bike

Cemusa's Bike-sharing Program Video

Outdoor advertiser Cemusa has been a late comer on the bike-sharing front and accordingly the public generally is not familiar with it. However, with the recent partnership with Bicincitta' on the Rome bike-sharing program and now, with the development of its own bike-sharing technology, it appears Cemusa has gotten itself a foothold.

Cemusa has developed its own bike-sharing technology as is shown on a video on YouTube entitled "Cemusa Bicycle Sharing Program". The technology is station-based and requires a smartcard for access. The bicycles and stations look similar to JCDecaux and Clear Channel programs. An improvement is that one bollard can unlock two bikes. This should equate to a cost savings in manufacture and construction, as fewer bollards need to be built and installed than JCDecaux's 4th generation Cyclocity technology which is in-use in Paris.

Warning: The background music is catchy and may cause your foot to tap.

Roam Around Rome, By Bike

Rome is stepping into the 21st Century bike-sharing world with the launch of its own service. The Spanish infrastructure company, FCC, and its outdoor advertising subsidiary, Cemusa, will be providing the service with the Italian Bicincitta' technology, which is used in 15 locations throughout Italy.

AFP reports, "The pilot programme, with an initial length of six months, will include 250 bicycles and 22 stations in the historic centre of Rome," with the eventual goal of reaching Paris' 20,000 bikes.

"Travelling in the centre of Rome will be easier, faster, economical and environmentally sound with the experimental bike-sharing programme," said Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni in FCC's press release.

This is great news however Rome is not known to be bike-friendly. In fact, Rome is known to be hostile towards bikes and pedestrians. The city realizes this and is beginning to create improved bike facilities. On a visit there in June, I came across a cycle track (separated bike facility) under construction in the neighborhood north of the Vatican. Being Rome, it looked like the curbs were made of a high-quality marble instead of the standard concrete. Bellissimo!

image: Colosseum - Wikipedia, Cycle track - Paul DeMaio