No City for Pedestrians

Bicycles on the sidewalk, Via Sproni.
Biciclette sul marciapiede, via Sproni.

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Post 3,627 of 3,665 - This blog will end on December 31st

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Our farewell / Il nostro saluto

Pinocchio's Bike

Pinocchio's bike, Public Library, Via dei Bottini dell'Olio.
La bicicletta di Pinocchio, Biblioteca Pubblica, via dei Bottini dell'Olio.

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Post 3,613 of 3,665 - This blog will end on December 31st

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Our farewell / Il nostro saluto

The Red Bike

Red bike and overgrown weeds, Scali delle Ancore.
Bicicletta rossa coperta di erbacce, scali delle Ancore.

Expressionist Bike

An expressionist bike on a shutter in Via San Carlo.
Una bicicletta espressionista su una saracinesca in via San Carlo.

Sex, Drugs, and...

Sex, drugs, and ‘five and five’, Via dell'Origine.
Sessso, droga e ‘cinque e cinque’, via dell'Origine.

Via Carlo Coccioli

The bicycle and the windows, Via Carlo Coccioli. Most of the people don't know Giorgio Caproni, so I can only imagine if they have ever heard of Carlo Coccioli... (Already posted on Instagram)
La bicicletta e le finestre, via Carlo Coccioli. La maggiore parte della gente non conosce Giorgio Caproni, figuriamoci se ha mai sentito parlare di Carlo Coccioli... (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

External links: Carlo Coccioli (Carlo Coccioli)
Link esterni: Carlo Coccioli (Wikipedia)

No Bicycles

Via del Bosco: “Private property, no bicycles”.
Via del Bosco: “Proprietà privata, vietato appoggiare biciclette”.

Casa del Pescatore

“Casa del Pescatore” (House of the Fisherman), Scali Cialdini.
“Casa del Pescatore”, scali Cialdini.

White Bike

A ‘ghost bike’ in Via della Cinta Esterna, a memorial dedicated to road victims. (Already posted on Instagram)
Una bicicletta bianca in via della Cinta Esterna, un memoriale dedicato alle vittime della strada.

(Già pubblicato su Instagram)

See also: Ghost Bike - Destroyed Ghost Bike
External links: Ghost bike (Wikipedia)
Vedi anche: Bici bianca - Bici bianca distrutta
Link esterni: Bici fantasma (Wikipedia)

Sign, Bicycle, and Bench

Sign, bicycle, and bench, Piazza della Vittoria. (Already posted on Instagram)
Cartello, bicicletta e panchina, piazza della Vittoria. (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

Bici all'Origine

“Vendita, Accessori, Riparazioni in giornata” (Sale, Accessories, Same-day Repair)
Via Cesare Battisti

(Already posted on Instagram)
(Già pubblicato su Instagram)

MS Berlin

Last Wednesday the cruise ship “Berlin” disembarked three hundred cyclists, who then went for a tour to Pisa.
I missed this part, but I was able to watch the quite laborious reloading of the bicycles on the ship.

External links: FTI Cruises (Official site)
Search labels: cruise ship

Versione italiana

A New Bike Lane

Many Livornese bicyclists amuse themselves chasing pedestrians on our narrow sidewalks, with the flimsy excuse that there aren't enough bike lanes. Here is a fresh new one at Porta a Mare: maybe they will really use it.

See also: Porta a Mare - The Two Towers - Via Edda Fagni - Luigi Orlando - Cranes in the Wind - A New Shopping Center - 6 PM

Versione italiana

Road Victims

A ‘ghost bike’ in Via della Cinta Esterna, a memorial dedicated to road victims.

See also: Ghost Bike - Destroyed Ghost Bike
External links: Ghost bike (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana

A Diabolical Endeavour

“Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum”

(To err is human, but to persist is diabolical)

It took more than two years and a change of Administration, but at last even our local daily has acknowledged on its front page that our bike sharing system is a disaster and a waste of public money.

It was also easily foreseeable to anyone who has lived in Livorno even for only a few months: here public property is enthusiastically vandalized and any kind of bicycle is systematically stolen, with absolute impunity.

See also: Five-Thousand-Euro Bicycles - Waste of Money - Bike Sharing
External links: Poche, rotte e sconnesse: il “bike sharing” è a terra (Il Tirreno, in Italian)

Versione italiana

Mascagni Velodrome

The Terrazza Mascagni is the new velodrome of Livorno.

People keep riding bicycles all the week on our sidewalks, just training for the Sunday race here.

See also: Terrazza Mascagni

Versione italiana

Bike Sharing

At last, someone noticed our very expensive and practically unused bike-sharing bicycles: nobody uses them, but some thieves broke a couple of racks stealing five bikes.

This happened in Piazza del Municipio, just in front of the central municipal police station and Town Hall.

Considered that almost everybody can afford at least an used bike, the money for this project would have been better spent on fighting bicycle theft, the real reason why a lot of people do not use a bike in town. But “repression” is not fashionable...

See also: Five-Thousand-Euro Bicycles - Waste of Money - A Diabolical Endeavour
- Piazza del Municipio - Town Hall
Search labels: bicycle art

Versione italiana

Waste of Money

I am not a fan of bike sharing because I think the service has substantial hidden costs and even in the most succesful cases it is used only by a tiny fraction of a city's population. In Livorno that fraction seems to be zero, for an announced cost of 127.000 Euro.

After eight months it is clear beyond any doubt that nobody uses these bicycles. I have asked around over and over, and no one I know has ever seen one of these things in motion. Even our otherwise hyperactive bicycle thieves and the many restless vandals keep neglecting them.

See also: Five-Thousand-Euro Bicycles - Bike Sharing - A Diabolical Endeavour

Versione italiana

Ghost Bike

These white bikes are called ‘ghost bikes’ and are intended as memorials for bicyclists killed or hit on the street. I saw my first one four years ago in New York City and I was quite impressed by the idea. The sign says “Basta morti sulla strada” (Stop road deaths) and the bicycle is locked at the rack of the Palazzo Granducale, just opposite Town Hall. By the way, please note the thriving weeds all around the place...

External links: Ghost bike (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana

Five-Thousand-Euro Bicycles

The Municipality has just spent 127.000 Euro for four bike sharing stations and a total of 24 bicycles: it is not too difficult to calculate their cost at 5.290 Euro each. Let us hope that these bikes will not be stolen or damaged beyond repair in a short time...

See also: Waste of Money - Bike Sharing - A Diabolical Endeavour

Versione italiana