Rome Initiates E-Scooter Project for Year 2000

ROME, Italy--In mid-December the Major Rutelli of Rome unveiled the city's most electric vehicle project up to date: a fleet of 400 rental e-scooters and no less than 400 (!) charging points spread throughout the city's historic center. The project comes under the auspices of the council of Rome, the Ministry of Environment and the associations WWF and Italia Nostra. The project is intended as a 'Starting Point', and was launched in time to take advantage of the millions of tourist that visited the city for the New Year's celebration. Between August and September 1999 the city held an international competition for the supply of 400 scooters and charging stations. The winner turned out to be an Italian after all: Atala Rizzato. The rental scooters, all Leptons, have been available to the public since January. With this initiative, the city of Rome now claims to have the largest concentration of electric scooters in the world. A more detailed report in the February issue of Bike Europe. (EL/GE)