On the occasion of the European Mobility Week and the Car Free Day, on September 24 Sunce organized the 11th Split Biking tour.
– Due to the rain forecast prediction on Sunday, we moved the entire organization of the Biking tour to Saturday within an hour, and that’s why I must thank all colleagues, volunteers, partners and sponsors who stepped in and made it possible for the Biking tour to take place on the last sunny Saturday of the month. Personally, this is one of the best Biking tour we’ve organized, and from the bottom of my heart I want to thank all citizens who responded to our last minute call – said Tihana Arapović, organizer and professional associate at Sunce.
In addition to the main sponsor, the City of Split, the Biking tour was supported by the Tourist Board of the Split-Dalmatia County, the Tourist Board of the City of Split and Split Parking. Also, anyone over the age of 18 who did not have their own bike could have rent it for free through the Nextbike application, and for participants from the islands, Jadrolinija provided a discount on the basic fare for people and vehicles on the Split waterway.
From St. Frane through Marjan to Đardin, more than 200 people from Split rode the Biking tour together with the mayor Ivica Puljak.
The number of cyclists, locals and tourists, is growing every year, that’s why Sunce wants to emphasize the purpose of sustainable transport, and thus tourism, by organizing a Biking tour.
Use the alternative forms of transport
– Zagreb, along with many other European cities, has been closing roads in the city center on Car Free Day for years, so we hope that Split will soon follow these positive examples. The problem of summer traffic jams can be solved by improving and adapting the transport infrastructure for the use of alternative forms of transport – pointed out Sunce’s director Gabrijela Medunić-Orlić.
– We have improved our public city transport a lot and we have new buses, so this is also a motive for people to use buses more. We will develop cycling infrastructure in the coming years. First, we must solve the parking spaces for vehicles, so we can expand the pedestrian zones in the city center and beyond – said Mayor Ivica Puljak.
Bicycle alka
During the entertainment part of the program in Đardin, all participants had the opportunity to take part in a raffle, a bicycle alka and a musical program, and also had the opportunity to win over 30 individual prizes from our sponsors and partners.
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– This year, the largest number of participants were children, and at the end, the alka was also children’s because only a few adults signed up. We are extremely glad that most of the prizes went to the children, and the prizes were provided by Promet Split, ZipLine Omiš, Split parking, bio&bio, Extreme Shop, Ekran, Joker fitness center, XXL fitness center, hair salon Like, Iris adventures, Red adventures, City Spa, UpCafe and Maslina tavern and pizzeria – said Arapović.
Sunce celebrates its 25th anniversary next year and on this occasion all interested citizens could learn about Sunce’s work, find applications for volunteering and membership, and donate to Sunce at the information stands in Đardin. Volunteers distributed fruit and presented composting.
Green Phone and SEAS project
At one of the stands, students of the Faculty of Law and a Green Phone volunteer, with the support of Sunce lawyers, explained to citizens how to become the voice of the environment. Through the SEAS project, students gained knowledge about environmental law and motivated their fellow citizens to regularly report problems related to the protection of the environment and nature in their surroundings.
The City Department for International and EU Funds presented its projects, the city company Promet Split promoted the new concept of e-ticketing and GPS, and the Split parking company informed users about cycling through the Nextbike application.
– From year to year, we can see a change for the better. We hope that one day we will have the entire city in bicycle lanes and that on this day there will be no cars on the roads – concluded Arapović.