As bus connections in many Danish rural areas have deteriorated in recent years, Region Midtjylland has now taken a new initiative to improve mobility for the residents of villages. The region has decided to offer electric bicycles in a sharing scheme to villages that have experienced cuts in public bus routes. The Chairman of the Regional Development Committee, Bent Graversen (V), explains that the electric bicycles should be seen as a supplement to existing transport and not as a replacement for the discontinued bus routes. “We acknowledge that electric bicycles do not solve all transportation problems, but they can be helpful for getting around locally or to the nearest public transport hub,” he says.
The region has allocated 800,000 Danish kroner to the project and plans to open applications from villages this summer. If the sharing scheme is successful, villages will be able to keep the electric bicycles permanently. “It is important for us to think outside the box and test different solutions, even though not all initiatives may be successful,” Graversen adds. Steffen Damsgaard, Chairman of the Association of Rural Districts, is positive about the initiative. “Although electric bicycles cannot replace buses, I see this as a step in the right direction to strengthen mobility in rural areas,” he states.
The initiative is therefore met with a mix of optimism and realism, where both the region’s leadership and local interest organizations recognize the need to experiment with alternative forms of transport in areas hardest hit by public transport cuts.