Rome, May, 2020 – After electric bicycles, the first 1,000 electric scooters arrive in Rome. They will be available starting today thanks to the new Helbiz service. The service of the American company, leader in Italy for its smart mobility solutions , has been authorized by Roma Capitale. In terms of safety equipment, speed limits and location functionality, Helbiz has fully responded to the compliance requirements required by the expression of interest of Roma Capitale, becoming the first company capable of bringing a shared scooter system to the city .
The operating principle of the service follows that of bike sharing started with the Greta pedal-assisted bicycle: download the free mobile application of Helbiz (free on Android and iOS smartphones), locate the nearest vehicle and unlock it using the scan a QR code located on the handlebar. The fare is the same as that applied in all cities of Italy: € 1 for the initial release + € 0.15 per minute for the ride . Added to this is the possibility of taking advantage of an advantageous flat rate – Helbiz UNLIMITEDat a cost of 29.99 euros per month – which allows you to make an unlimited number of daily trips lasting 30 minutes (at least 20 minutes apart). Thanks to the partnership with the Telepass group, it will be possible to take advantage of Helbiz vehicles, through the Telepass Pay app which offers the first 30 minutes of free travel throughout 2020.
“Rome restarts under the banner of sustainable mobility. We welcome the first fleet of electric scooters, thanks to which citizens and tourists will have a useful and innovative service at their disposal. We thus promote new sharing models and encourage private operators to invest in a sector that is experiencing strong growth internationally. In this period of serious emergency our habits have changed and as an Administration we are promoting new mobility choices. Rome also changes through these innovative solutions with zero environmental impact, “says the Mayor of Rome , Virginia Raggi .
“Thanks to this service, we are giving a concrete response to the growing demand for active and sustainable mobility in our city, a need that emerged with even greater force at this stage. Electric scooters, which thanks to the latest government regulations can also circulate on cycle paths, represent an excellent solution to facilitate travel, especially over shorter distances. A program that fits perfectly with the extraordinary plan of 150 kilometers of transitory cycle paths planned for Rome “, adds the councilor for the City in Motion, Pietro Calabrese.
“We are really proud to be the first choice for the electric micro-mobility of the Municipality of Rome – comments Salvatore Palella , Founding CEO of Helbiz.“Our scooters have already proven in the rest of the world to be a green, economic and easy-to-use solution to the problems of city traffic and we are sure that it will also be appreciated by the Romans and the tourists that we all hope will soon return to visit the city. Helbiz focuses on service, accessibility and technology; today citizens need to be able to move saving money and with the least environmental impact. Our technology allows us to improve the service over time through algorithms that evaluate the routes, the laying of the vehicles, their recharging and the parking of the vehicles. The mobility of our cities must be able to count on a new mix of technologies and agile, space-saving electric vehicles that integrate current choices, because space will be an increasingly important dimension and currently the average speed of traveling by car in the city is 18km / h comparable to that of a scooter or an e-bike. Just think that compared to the pre-covid period there has been an increase in the use of our e-bikes by 300% with 60% longer average routes “.
Rome will be a launching pad for Helbiz for new solutions: not only investments in the area but also for new technologies with the test of new means thanks to specific agreements with the Municipality and with Telepass strategic partner on the integration of services.
“We believe it is essential to encourage new forms of micro-mobility in sharing, which can make travel in large urban centers more sustainable and safer, which is why we decided to make the first half hour of use of bikes available to Roman citizens through Telepass Pay free scooters, “said Gabriele Benedetto, CEO of Telepass. “We continue to build, together with innovative companies such as Helbiz and important public administrations such as Rome, the main platform for mobility services”.
The consolidated presence on the Roman territory thanks to Greta the e-bike sharing service already started last November and the experience gained in more than 25 cities in the world, allow Helbiz to be immediately operational on the territory of the Capital, within a large area that, in addition to the historic center, includes the Vatican and the districts of Parioli / Pinciano, Flaminio, Trieste, Nomentano / Università, San Lorenzo, San Giovanni, Rione Prati, Trionfale / Medaglie d’Oro, Portuense, Marco Polo, Garbatella / Ostiense, Tor Marancia / Montagnola, Ardeatino, San Paolo / Marconi and Prati della Vittoria. Initially there will be about a thousand scooters ready to be rented by residents and tourists. In addition to the supply of vehicles, all of the latest generation (Segway G30 Max), and the geolocated technological platform
Helbiz information : http://www.helbiz.com
