Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Italians get a bicycle stimulus!!!
Read this article from Bike Europe, if only Rudd had this much inspiration!
1st in EU: Italian Government Spurs Bike Sales with Incentives
MILAN, Italy - For the first time in Europe a government started handing out direct incentives for the purchase of a bicycle or e-Bike. Last week on April 22, the Italian government by means of its Ministry for the Environment started an incentive scheme which contributes to a maximum of 30% of the retail price of a bicycle or e-Bike. The maximum amount is € 700 which is for a bike that retails for € 2,330. This is on average the retail price of a high-end electric bicycle.
According to the Minister for the Environment the incentives are not only for the purchase of bicycles but are also intended for small scooters and for electric Powered Two-Wheelers. They are valid for the whole of 2009. The incentives are based on a governmental budget of 8.75 million euro to be given to users who purchase a new bicycle or power assisted bicycle, without the need of writing-off another vehicle.
The incentives are also given to purchasers of scooters either with an EURO-2 engine or electric powered. In these latter cases the writing-off of a scooter EURO-Zero or EURO-1 is mandatory. The maximum incentives for the purchase of big electric motorcycle is set at 1,300 euro and for an electric scooter 850 euro. For EURO-3 hybrid motorcycles the maximum amount is 950 euro while for hybrid scooters it reaches 600 euro. For EURO-2 four-strokes and two-strokes the incentives are only 350 euro and 180 euro respectively. In order to obtain the incentive for the purchase of these vehicles it is needed to write-off a non-ecological PTW.
Piero Nigrelli, responsible for bicycles at ANCMA (the Italian National Association for the Bicycle and Motorcycle Industry) stated: “The decision of the Italian government to support cycling with incentives is something really new in Europe. Not only is this fantastic but more important is the fact that the incentives have been given based on the fact that the government wants to give a real push for the improvement of the air quality in particular in large urban areas.”
According to Nigrelli a rather large number of people took the opportunity to buy bicycles or e-Bikes with the incentives just after the start of the scheme. At the first day 11 applications came in of which 10 for bicycles and 1 for a Powered Two-Wheeler. He said: “Luckily we were able to simplify the paper work for the scheme by the dealers. And even some consumers called us to express their gratitude.”
Browsing through the government documents in which the incentive scheme is described it is stunning to read: “Bicycles, power assisted bicycles and similar vehicles are real options to promote a sustainable mobility as an alternative to motor vehicles …”. With that it seams the world is really changing…
Published @ 28-04-2009
1st in EU: Italian Government Spurs Bike Sales with Incentives
MILAN, Italy - For the first time in Europe a government started handing out direct incentives for the purchase of a bicycle or e-Bike. Last week on April 22, the Italian government by means of its Ministry for the Environment started an incentive scheme which contributes to a maximum of 30% of the retail price of a bicycle or e-Bike. The maximum amount is € 700 which is for a bike that retails for € 2,330. This is on average the retail price of a high-end electric bicycle.
According to the Minister for the Environment the incentives are not only for the purchase of bicycles but are also intended for small scooters and for electric Powered Two-Wheelers. They are valid for the whole of 2009. The incentives are based on a governmental budget of 8.75 million euro to be given to users who purchase a new bicycle or power assisted bicycle, without the need of writing-off another vehicle.
The incentives are also given to purchasers of scooters either with an EURO-2 engine or electric powered. In these latter cases the writing-off of a scooter EURO-Zero or EURO-1 is mandatory. The maximum incentives for the purchase of big electric motorcycle is set at 1,300 euro and for an electric scooter 850 euro. For EURO-3 hybrid motorcycles the maximum amount is 950 euro while for hybrid scooters it reaches 600 euro. For EURO-2 four-strokes and two-strokes the incentives are only 350 euro and 180 euro respectively. In order to obtain the incentive for the purchase of these vehicles it is needed to write-off a non-ecological PTW.
Piero Nigrelli, responsible for bicycles at ANCMA (the Italian National Association for the Bicycle and Motorcycle Industry) stated: “The decision of the Italian government to support cycling with incentives is something really new in Europe. Not only is this fantastic but more important is the fact that the incentives have been given based on the fact that the government wants to give a real push for the improvement of the air quality in particular in large urban areas.”
According to Nigrelli a rather large number of people took the opportunity to buy bicycles or e-Bikes with the incentives just after the start of the scheme. At the first day 11 applications came in of which 10 for bicycles and 1 for a Powered Two-Wheeler. He said: “Luckily we were able to simplify the paper work for the scheme by the dealers. And even some consumers called us to express their gratitude.”
Browsing through the government documents in which the incentive scheme is described it is stunning to read: “Bicycles, power assisted bicycles and similar vehicles are real options to promote a sustainable mobility as an alternative to motor vehicles …”. With that it seams the world is really changing…
Published @ 28-04-2009
Tags: italian-government, stimulus, wow
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Peter Whittle on -
There's hope for the world! Now, how to get this in Australia? Have we got a document setting out the arguments for the bike case?
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Permalink Reply by RobE on
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great move, Bellissimo....
now we need to get the FBT incentives for car driving radically changed and moved across to sustainable means of transport, how is it even remotely sensible to want people to drive cars more in this day and age?...( unless of course you are a car manufacturer ( read dinosaur), oil producer ( read eco criminal) or a print media advertising rag ( read hate sheet against sensible and rational thought)...
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Permalink Reply by Cory on -
I look forward to the Holden 2 wheeler... Coz IMHO it'll take a local manufacturer to get this going if a federal government is going to listen.
(GO Malvern Star...)
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I'd like to see all our car makers reduce production of cars for personal transport and start to diversify into also making more sensible things like solar collection systems, wind turbine systerms, tidal and water current systems and energy capture devices that could be used to save us generating energy from fossil fuels for industry, transport and households. They can re-tool, keep people in work and stop their production of dinosaurs as the comet has already hit, they just refuse to see it!.
Industry, Governments, Unions and Workers, and consumers have to accept the world is a different place now, that we can no longer go on doing what we have, making what we have and abusing this planet like we have... its time to stop being ostriches, and for those who say " why bother if the rest of the world won't" ... isnt good enough. It is stupidity in the extreme to carry on business as usual.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Whittle on
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Wow, some cool diagrams.
I'm thinking that we seem to automatically set bike vs. car. This doesn't have to be so. Why does a concession for a bike have to be set against concessions for cars? Why does the argument for a bike being good depend on showing a car is bad? On the list of items I can salary sacrifice for, and get some FBT concession, there are quite a few other items, like laptops, gym membership etc. The arguments for bikes IN THEIR OWN RIGHT include (and we all know this) health, low environmental impact, social development and so on. These alone should get bikes on the list, without buying a fight with Big Auto and Big Oil (and Big RACQ/V!!).
Pete
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probably because we have as a society allowed the car to rule our lives and not been too concerned about the consequences of that for other things, and thus it became by default a primary tax incentive for employers to build into packages for employees and is bolstered by the FBT requirement that a minimum kilometreage be achieved each financial year to get the tax break... it is a false approach which forces bad practice... other incentives are great and we need more of them , less car centric... I also believe the car makers and oil producers have taken the easy line for way too long and to hell with the consequences, this pervades our culture, we rely on fossil fuel to keep industry running and transport movings, coal mining for energy supplies to produce electricity ( especially in Vic) and never seem to want to break the nexus for some fear about jobs and power over economies, rather than slowly working at it and achieve a benefit in the long term, it is largely ignored and drastic action when needed will be catastrophic for huge populations ... its not too late but it' s getting that way....
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Permalink Reply by Peter Whittle on
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No argument with those comments, Rob - in fact full support! But it's another argument. Let's focus on getting bikes on the list on their own merits, and run the car/FBT thing, where you run into not only complex economics, but deeply complex and very powerful politics (the biggest in the land, pretty much), separately?
Pete
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no doubt " they" are going to raise it anyway I reckon, the car/oil lobby will be vocal at any competing transport mode benefit seeking any change to FBT that may even be perceived to erode their dominance for employee transport benefits, but we can try sure... its a bit like the psychology behind cycling now needed to be promoted as a very " sensible" transport mode, rather than green, ecological, sustainable, etc... the doing things for the climate debate is tired and a fresh approach is needed and being delivered :).
The strongest compulsion is demand, if more ride for work ( as many Council officers now do), and more ride to commute there is a payback for the govt to encourage cycling to, and in, the workplace through FBT and other incentives.
This is the thrust I would prefer for corporates and workplaces promotion too, so they can deliver employees the bikes, train them as competent on road riders and deliver a payback to the employers, but FBT is a major need and if that can be encouraged from Canberra in fiscal incentives a massive boost to building a employee participation programme can be rolled out across the country.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Whittle on
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All of that promotion can be part of the drive to get the concession made, or left until later - but I still think the best spin is to stay right away from Big Auto/Oil's radar, and if they try to put it on, say, "Hey, what's this got to do with you? Bikes are miniscule and will not even touch your economy. You may as well support us" ... and good luck having an impact later!
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Permalink Reply by andrew stretton on -
Hi Rob and Peter,
For a slightly different perspective on the excellent points you both raise, pages 4,5 & 6 of this link:
http://www.mechanarchy.com.au/ASM%20August%202007%20email.pdf
Cheers
Andy
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Thanks Andy, hopefully the more who share the notions and sentiments expressed the sooner we will all see the outcomes of a greening rather than a " burnt in CO2" planet on which we as a species can continue.
I see man' s greed and inhumanity to man in the name of " growth, power and the religions of control " as destructive for us , and our short time on this planet will be even shorter than our natural processes would have permitted.
Individual responsibility , by sensible choices and right action, thought and words are our best hope as governments certainly will sit on their hands while " growth" is the sentiment.
cheers
Ride on brothers and sisters, at least it might be a bit polluted, but the air is free and so is thought and self control... :) -
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interesting paper here to download, check out the Item by Kurt Lesser " No Stopping the gravy train for car industry .support... also some tooing & froing by Pucher and Others, plus some locking horns by him and another on pro-separation and education as opposed to spending on facillities... I wonder how skilled Pucher is at riding?, he seems set against riding on road... is he scared or what? I dont think his social justice claims hold water, he seems light on evidence and long on claims... he is respected in many things, but not sure how helpful to advancing cycling long term ...time will tell
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