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Early autumn should see the implementation of Nicosia’s bike sharing system, which will connect the capitals five universities with dedicated cycling routes and cycle-lanes as soon as possible.
 

Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou stressed that promoting a policy of sustainable mobility is not a matter of theory, but a completely practical issue, which is why Nicosia Municipality has been working closely with five other local authorities to come up with policies and co-ordinate measures that will encourage a change of public attitude towards cycling.
 

Nicosia Municipality incorporated the bike sharing scheme into its plans to comprehensively upgrade its roads, pavements and drains infrastructure, scheduled to be completed in mid 2013.
 

The five other greater municipalities of Nicosia took up the initiative to create a common bike sharing scheme that will allow users to pick up a bike in one municipality and drop off in another.
 

The commercial contract to supply the six municipalities with 285 public bicycles and 24 docking stations was signed at the end of May.
 

The scheme which incorporates third generation bike sharing is a high-tech, expensive solution involving using smart-card, credit card or mobile phone technology for quick access and remote tracking of the bike fleet. Systems have been successfully introduced in Paris, Brussels and Barcelona.
 

A decision as to the cost of hiring the bikes as not yet been taken although it is envisaged that the first 2 hours will be free and then a small charge possibly one or two Euros per hour for the rest of the hire period.
 

Riders will require a credit card or a university student ID to access the bikes. Inserting the card will provide the user with a key and a unique electronic number. Once the bike is dropped off and the key inserted to secure it, any charges due will be calculated and billed by the system.