Florence had the greatest number of odd cars, trucks and motor bikes that I have ever seen! I have not yet been to India, or Africa, so maybe there are some oddities there as well, but some of the trucks and cars beat what I have seen in Asia. For a "developed" "Westernized" country, some of the common transport was decidedly third world!
Of most interest to me were the small 3 wheeled trucks that were everywhere in Italy. They were used as run arounds but mostly as genuine work trucks. Hopefully you can see in these photos how small some of them were, but how varied their use was. From what our relatives and friends in Italy said, their use is so common, because for many years, any motor under 25cc did not need to be registered and you did not need a license. So a lot of older people, especially from rural areas, bought them and used them for everything. They seem to last for ever, although they are now registered and the drivers licensed, but they are still allowed on major roads and highways and are used throughout the city. They are certainly very useful in the narrow streets of the old historical centre, but they are an absolute horror on the busier main roads and faster traffic in the rest of Florence. Seeing some large, macho Italian men driving these funny little 3 wheel trucks, that don't seem to manage more than about 50km hour, was very amusing; and I am still amazed that they are allowed on the main roads.
As a complete contrast to the old diesel 25cc 3 wheel trucks, were the ultra modern, small electric cars. In Australia to date, we had only seen the Mercedes Smart Car and a few smller cars from the Japanese & Korean manufacturers. The smart car was certainly popular in Italy and held its own very well. They moved well on the freeways and were perfect for the city centre. However, there were even smaller cars, and as an extra boost they were electric - ie no direct pollution - either atmospheric or noise - they are amazingly quiet. Even better, the Florentine Council, as an environmental measure were trying to encourage the residents to go electric for local commuting, and therefore provided free electric chargers in many streets, for residents to plug their cars or elctric motor bikes into for recharging!
I think their most practical feature however was their convenience for parking - they could fit almost anywhere! As you can see in one photo below - where all other cars have to park parallel, an electric car can park at 90 degrees and still take up less depth from the kerb! However their best feature was their Noddy, toyland look! They were very cute and I smiled everytime I saw one, esp as they were always painted in nice bright primary colours!
They were very popular! Our friend Giampiero had an electric bike that was excellent for commuting within Florence - cheap, easy, could get up to 50kph (which is all you needed in city traffic), gave you 40 hours before recharging and could cope with evrything except steep hills, and Florence itself is flat.
Motorbikes were of course everywhere, as they were the perfect commuting and travelling vehicle, except in the rain. Although you had to wear a helmet by law, nothing else was mandatory, and like many Asian & Afican countries you saw absolutely everyone on a bike - men in business suits, women in high heels and short skirts, elderly people (literally in their 70's & 80's), young teenagers (they could ride a bike from age 16), etc. It was very common to see people walking into bars and restaurants carrying their bike helmet and hand bag! Unfortunately, I rarely had my camera handy when I saw some more outrageous outfits or luggage on the bikes, so did not get as many photos as I would have liked. Not only was there every conceivable dress style on the bikes; there was also every conceivable price level of bike, from your basic moped and 25cc motor bike to newest all weather, fully luxurious modern bike! (see the photo below!)
However, what also interested me was the volume of bike parking in the city centre streets - and there are photos of this below! Whole narrow, cobblestone streets had lines of motor bikes parked side by side for hundreds of meters! And because almost every bike had a large, modern style pannier hanging over the back of the bike, they usually blocked the narrow footpaths, forcing people to walk on the roads! In some ways I loved the chaos the bikes caused and the real passion for the bike in Italy and at other times it was a total inconvenience, noise and danger - but you cannot travel in Italy, or in fact any Mediterranean country, without coming to terms with motorbike transport. Alan just hated the inconvenience and traffic hazards they caused pedestrians, although he has expressed an interest in buying a scooter on our return to Australia as a cheap and convenient commuting vehicle!
Finally, I come to the bicycle! Bicycles are as popular in Florence as motorbikes. Most Florentines own one and I even tried to buy one for the 5 months we were there - but it took too much effort! Why? Because no-one, except road racers, rides a new bike, because the parts would be stolen with in 24 hours, so everyone rides very old, 2nd hand bikes! Alan kept seeing bikes with brake and gear systems that went out with the ark. He would often comment on seeing a bike - "I had those sort of brakes when I was kid and they disappeared because they weren't safe and yet the shops in Florence are selling them new"! We only saw 2 bike shops selling new bikes, within Florence itself and several repair shops - many of whom had signs up saying "We do not Sell Bikes"! Most 2nd hand bikes are sold privately or through advertisements in the universities and trading post style newspapers and websites. In the end it became a matter of budget and necessity and finding a suitable one and I gave up. I found the buses and walking quite adequate for within Florence itself and the Italian train network excellent for travelling to other cities and of course we still had our car! The major disappointment was the lack of a free or very cheap bike hire system that we had found in Montpellier, Paris, Vienna, Milan, etc. Florence was just beginning to introduce the system, but all bikes still had to go back to the station - they did not yet have bike points throughout the city - a real disappointment - but it will come.
However what intrigued me about the bikes in Florence, and throughout Europe, was the lack of legislation regarding the wearing of bike helmets (not compulsory) or even suitable shoes & clothing! So you saw people in thongs, women in high heels and short skirts, men in suits and overcoats all riding their bikes. It was astounding. In addition, you saw them carrying the most amazing items on the bikes, like meter long pieces of wood from the hardware shop or dozens of shopping bags from the supermarket, etc! The best pillion passenger I saw is shown in the photo below - would they get away with this in Melbourne???? Most bikes had a basket in front - few had the more modern system of paniers over the back wheels - that I find far easier and more balanced. I also found it amazing how everyone rode their bikes, without helmets on busy roads, in front of buses, through red lights, across moving lanes of traffic, etc. It felt hazardous just watching!
BUT I must comment here on the driving in Italy (and France) - Even though I am aghast at how people rode bikes, I am also in awe of the patience, acceptance and general courtesy all drivers showed bike riders in both Italy & France. There is a real bike culture here and bike riders are considered equal users of the road. I never heard bikes tooted at to get out of the way. Bus drivers would slow down until the bikes could move or the bus could go around them. Cars would give way to bikes at busy interesections, etc. Bikes would ride up one way streets the wrong way and cars would just let them move out the way (I know - I accidentally did this in Paris!). Also all cars stop at pedestrian crossings, even if they are not controlled by lights etc. As soon as you step on to the crossing, on coming cars will stop! This also applied to bikes using the crossing. It is a law in Italy & France that 99% of drivers obeyed! Even in the country, we would often be held up for several kilometres because there would be a pelaton or even a single local bike rider or family on a bike outing, and the cars would just wait for a safe place to pass - no tooting, no driving the bike into the edge of the road. In fact they were more likely to push a car on the opposite side of the road into the kerb while they passed the bike, leaving the cyclist, but not the other driver sufficient room! So even though it looked dangerous, it was not as bad as it appeared. I enjoyed the bike riding I did manage in Montpellier, Milan, Paris, Loire Valley and Vienna and even rode without my helmet, so I didn't stand out like a sore thumb! Victorian drivers certainly need lessons on courtesy to bike riders and France and Italy would be a good place to start!
Florence also provided lots of spaces for parking bikes, although people chained them to absolutely everything, so often footpaths were blocked by bikes and you had to walk on the road yet again! Because most people lived in appartments with out garages, they stored their bikes in the foyer of the appartment block, as shown below. This was a very typical entry porch.
The last photo is just for fun - like all cities with historical buildings, Florence offers horse and carriage rides through the streets from March to October (never saw them in winter), and they did look good in the streets of Florence!
Enough ramblings - I wish I had taken more photos of the transport oddities I saw, but I hope these few snippets make you smile and think of the environmental advantages of promoting electric vehicles!
1 comment:
Alan, I took an interest in cars and transport while in Europe. Salzburg had electric buses instead of trams which were very good. They also used a rope or insulated string to suspend the overhead wires which made them unobtrusive. (no aerial insulators). Zurich had trams but they did not drop people off in the centre of the road and stop the traffic. Instead they had platforms or inslands - a bit like Collins Street now. It was much better thought out. Bren
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