- Title: Marrakesh launches eco friendly bike sharing scheme
- Date: 21st November 2016
- Summary: MARRAKESH, MOROCCO (NOVEMBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS) BICYCLES HUB IN GUELIZ VARIOUS OF BICYCLES VARIOUS OF MEDINA BIKE SIGN MAN IN HELMET RIDING BIKE VARIOUS OF FLAGS OF COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING IN COP22 VARIOUS OF DELEGATES AT CONFERENCE MOROCCAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, HAKIMA EL HAITE, WALKING WITH A DELEGATE FROM SENEGAL COP22 SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOROCCAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, HAKIMA EL HAITE, SAYING: "The city of Marrakech is one of the first cities to take this initiative, because cycling is part of the culture of its inhabitants. Secondly, we want to see this project in all the Moroccan cities because it is an initiative that creates jobs and makes it easy for many citizens to move because of its very low cost." VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC IN MARRAKESH VARIOUS OF MEN HIRING BIKE FROM ELECTRONIC DOCK MAN RIDING MEDINA BIKE WOMAN RIDING MEDINA BIKE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ESTATES VISION REPRESENTATIVE, ABDELLATIF BOUISKRAN, SAYING: "One of the objectives of these environmentally friendly bicycles is to reduce the carbon while the second objective is to reduce congestion because people can use these bicycles to move around easily inside the city." VARIOUS OF PIKALA BICYCLE WORKSHOP VARIOUS OF BIKES AT WORKSHOP VARIOUS OF BIKE MECHANIC WORKING MAN REPLACING TYRE ON WHEEL VOLUNTEER YOUNES EL GUERRAOUI FROM PIKALA PROJECT WITH MISBAH ABDEL KOUDDOUS, A BICYCLE USER FROM MARRAKECH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PIKALA VOLUNTEER, YOUNES El GUERRAOUI, SAYING: "The association is aiming to encourage people to ride bicycles for health reasons as well as for environmental reasons. Bicycles are easy to use in Marrakesh because the city's roads are flat and riding is easy contrary to some other Moroccan cities such as Agadir, El Jadida or Casablanca known for their hills." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BICYCLE USER, MISBAH ABDEL KOUDDOUS, SAYING: "It is well known that the inhabitants of Marrakech love bicycles and use them, especially considering that most of them have a modest income. Thanks to this initiative, it is possible to repair a bicycle from A to Z free of charge. They repair anything that needs to be repaired." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE RIDING BIKES IN THE FAMOUS JAMAA EL FNA SQUARE HORSE CARRIAGE MOVING THROUGH STREET
- Embargoed: 6th December 2016 10:53
- Keywords: Morocco Marrakesh bicycles Medina bikes COP22
- Location: MARRAKESH, MOROCCO
- City: MARRAKESH, MOROCCO
- Country: Morocco
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA00159DXPHX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Moroccan city of Marrakesh, host of the COP22 World Summit for Climate from 7-18 November, has launched Africa's first fully functioning bike share scheme - Medina Bikes.
With 320 brand new bicycles docked in 10 key landmarks and available 24/7, the environmental friendly project also taps into an old cycling tradition in the city.
"The city of Marrakech is one of the first cities to take this initiative, because cycling is part of the culture of its inhabitants. Secondly, we want to see this project in all the Moroccan cities because it is an initiative that creates jobs and makes it easy for many citizens to move because of its very low cost," Moroccan Environment Minister Hakima el Haite said.
Cycling is seen here as a possible way to alleviate the pressure on the city's congested roads, while also keeping with Morocco's commitment to implement green policies.
The Medina Bikes project was conceived by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and supported by the Moroccan government on a local and national level.
It was implemented by Moroccan company Estates Vision in partnership with France's Smoove - the company that launched similar programmes around the world including Moscow, Chicago and Vancouver.
Abdellatif Bouiskran from Estates Vision said there were two main aims of the project.
"One of the objectives of these environmentally friendly bicycles is to reduce the carbon while the second objective is to reduce congestion because people can use these bicycles to move around easily inside the city," he said.
Also helping the cycling revival in Marrakesh is Dutch NGO Pikala, who offered free bike maintenance during the COP22. More than 1,000 bicycles have been fixed or serviced free of charge.
Cyclist Misbah Abdel Kouddous hailed the scheme.
"It is well known that the inhabitants of Marrakech love bicycles and use them, especially considering that most of them have a modest income. Thanks to this initiative, it is possible to repair a bicycle from A to Z free of charge. They repair anything that needs to be repaired."
An annual pass for the bikes costs 500 Moroccan Dirhams (50 USD), while the weekly rate is 150 Dirhams (15 USD). The prices are likely to be too high to be used by many residents, and further infrastructure investment such as providing cycle lanes may be necessary to increase rates of cycling in the city.
If the scheme is deemed successful, Morocco is hoping to spread the Medina Bike scheme to other cities including Casablanca, which was ranked fifth in the world for levels of air pollution in a recent survey by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Morocco is hoping to become a world leader in the protection of the environment, it banned plastic bags in July and has committed to using green energy such as solar and wind power to produce 52 per cent of its energy needs by 2030. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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