The bicycles are being regularly rented by local inhabitants, 270 have joined the system, but the largest number of bicycles is rented by tourists from abroad, mostly Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria, explained the Piran municipality senior adviser for investments and traffic Rok Humar.

Piranko was born within the transboundary support project to sustainable mobility forms in coastal cities, titled with the acronym Adria.MOVE IT!. The project is co-financed by the EU as a part of the pre-accession aid IPA programme in the Mediterranean countries.

100 bicycles available
The purpose of Piranko was to encourage sustainable mobility in the coastal towns, and it was successful. Local inhabitants and tourists have at their disposal one hundred city bikes of good quality, including three tricycles for transport of smaller loads which are mainly used by tradesmen and caterers.

Piranko’s main goal is to assure quality service at minimal costs, which is why they rejected the idea of the bike sharing as in Ljubljana and Velenje. They operate by the “library system” – the rented bike must be returned to the same place where it was rented.

The user only pays the annual membership fee to cover the cost of keeping the account, and EUR 5 for user ID, while the use of bicycles is free of charge.

Renting bikes for several days
"The main advantage of our Piranko system is the option to rent a bicycle for several days, up to one week," Humar explains. "The local citizens have welcomed this service, and quite often rent a bike for several days," he said.

The municipality will try to buy additional bicycles during next years. As Piran spreads over several quite steep slopes, and even one of the central car-park buildings stands on a hill, "many people refrain from renting a bike fearing such obstacles." According to Humar, they future plans include mainly the purchase of electric bikes.

Sa. J.
Translated by G. K.