Comparing Bike Sharing Practices in Italian Cities

The Action Plan on urban mobility, presented by the European Commission in 2009, highlights that the sustainability of transports is, on the one hand, a growing concern for citizens and, on the other hand, a further tool to promote cohesion policies and reach the 20-20-20 goal. The Plan urges national and sub-national governments to arrange a growing number of measures to guarantee more efficient and more sustainable public transports. Actually, this will benefit the economy, citizens’ wellbeing, the environment and competition. EU solicitations induced some Italian cities to start new urban policies related to sustainable mobility. The paper proposes an evaluation of bike sharing policies implemented in the last few years in four Italian cities: Milan, Naples, Palermo and Brindisi.