The benefits of cycling are now not to be proven: exercise, health, traffic, accessibility for all public, quality of life, or noise. Yet despite the beautiful weather conditions, Portuguese cities can have trouble convincing drivers to trade their cars for a bike.
Thus the city of Braga, alongside Istanbul (Turkey) and Tallinn (Estonia), took the opportunity offered by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to promote cycling through monetary incentives. The principle of “Bicification – The Future on Two Wheels” is simple: by subscribing to a dedicated app, the service will track your bike trips and calculate the amount depending on the distances they have covered within the city. The cash can represent a maximum of 28 euros per month, given in the form of gift cards spendable only in local shops. Thus the initiative boosts the town’s local economy and the dynamism of the city center. Five hundred cyclists participate in the experimentation, which will be perpetuated and generalized if successful.
