ROMA – Soft mobility takes over the car. This is what could soon happen in France, where an attractive offer is on the way for owners of old polluting cars. In practice, the proposal provides for a generous subsidy of € 2,500 for the purchase of an electric bicycle against delivery for the scrapping of one’s obsolete vehicle. At the moment, the legislators of the National Assembly of all political parties have approved the measure in a preliminary vote and now the proposal will continue its process. It is an amendment to a draft law on climate, under consideration by Parliament, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by forty percent in 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
Thus, if the measure is finally adopted, France will become the first country in the world to offer people the possibility of exchanging an old polluting vehicle for an electric bicycle, stressed the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB). “For the first time it is recognized that the solution is not to make cars greener – said Olivier Schneider, president of the Fédération française des usagers de la bicyclette – but simply to reduce their number”. In short, the initiative of the transalpine cousins could lead to a new model of truly sustainable and environmentally friendly green mobility even if the most difficult point remains that of convincing motorists to abandon the car to switch to bicycles. (mr)
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