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Como bans bikes
In Como, Italy, Mayor Alessandro Rapinese has ordered bicycles to be banned from around 30 streets in the walled historical centre starting in September, requiring cyclists to dismount and walk through the affected areas.
“It means from September, cyclists will have to dismount through an area of around 30 streets.”
Rapinese said the ban was necessary for public safety after he was hit by an e-bike while leaving city hall in June, and he told Italian news agency Ansa, "People act based on their own experiences and I know what it's like to be hit by one of these beasts."
The measure applies to both electric and push bikes because Italy’s highway code does not distinguish between models, and it forms part of a package establishing a Limited Traffic Zone (ZTL) to manage tourist growth.
The restrictions also include rules for vehicles and deliveries, with the AOL.co.uk report saying deliveries to shops and restaurants will only be allowed between 06:00 and 23:00, and that tourists staying in hotels will only be able to drive into the centre if their accommodation has parking.
Backlash and protests
Rapinese’s decision has triggered criticism from resident groups and politicians, with the Guardian reporting that activists started a petition and that cyclists are planning to ride their bikes through the specified streets in mid-September in protest.
The Guardian also quoted Rapinese defending the rule to Ansa, saying, "I’ve been accused of adopting this measure because I was hit by an electric bike – certainly, that is true."
Vincenzo Falanga, president of Nova Como, accused Rapinese’s administration of "turning individual problems into collective ones," while the Como branch of the centre-left Democratic party said, "Como deserves a mobility system that ensures pedestrian safety without penalising residents, workers and those who choose sustainable transport."
The protest response is also reflected in other coverage, including the AOL.co.uk report that Nova Como has organised a protest bike ride for 12 September, and that an online petition has been launched to block the resolution.
Rules, permits, and access
Beyond the bicycle ban itself, the ZTL changes described by AOL.co.uk mean some vehicles will require an annual permit and, for each day of entry, a €3 (£2.60) permit, while the city centre is already covered by a limited-traffic zone.
“for each day of entry, a €3 (£2.60) permit.”
AOL.co.uk also reported that the new traffic regulations for the ZTL impose stricter rules on cars and vans in the city centre, and that many of the roads covered by the ban are the widest in the old town and are popular with delivery drivers.
In a separate legal challenge, Civitas argued that the resolution that bans bicycles in Como’s historic centre is "nullifiable," saying it "contains errors and omissions which, in our view, render it at least nullifiable."
Civitas’s argument cites the Highway Code’s definition of a pedestrian area as "zone closed to vehicle traffic except for emergency services, velocipedes, and vehicles serving people with disabilities," and it says the ban is the exception that must be justified under that framework.
