Colmar:
Guarded parking lots for bicycles - a project to re-integrate unemployed
Colmar:
| |
| Country: | a) Western Europe | ,b) France |
| Language: | |
| Type: | Project, 3 |
| Area: | City/Town, 20,000-100,000 |
| Actors: | Local government |
| Funding: | Other |
| Topics: | Employment |
| Mobility and transport | |
| Objectives: | Improve environmental efficiency |
| Increase non-motorised mobility | |
| Reduce car mobility | |
| Reduce energy consumption | |
| Instruments: | Demonstration and pilot project |
Bicycles account for approx. 15% of all traffic in Colmar, due to the city's historical layout which is inconvenient for driving. One problem associated with this fraction of cyclists was the large number of bicycle thefts. This projects provides jobs for the long- term unemployed as guards of bicycle parking lots which are initiated for public use. The project "Guarded parking lots for bicycles" has several remarkable points listed below:
The city of Colmar had a massive problem that re-occurred every summer. At the swimming pools, located outside the inner city as well at one in the city itself, there were approx. 500 bicycle thefts per year. In contrast to the traditional French city with little bicycle traffic, the number of cyclists in Colmar is very high, so this security problem had a significant impact on the number of cyclists. Since many of the thefts occurred at the swimming pools, the project was initiated to improve their situation. In July 1992, a mobile fence was set up to mark off an area which was designed to be a guarded parking lot for bicycles.
The project has two goals:
The staff running the bicycle parking lots are long-term unemployed people whose opportunities for re- integration in the labour market could be improved through this project.
Because of the very modest technical standards of the bicycle parking lots, the costs for setting them up and maintaining them is negligible. The main financing issues are personnel costs, but those are rather low since the salaries are only a few hundred francs higher than French unemployment benefits - which must be paid by the local government in any case. Thus, the project is self-financing, and it helps to re-integrate unemployed people and ease the burden on the social welfare system.
| Name | : | City of Colmar |
| Firstname | : | |
| Telefon | : | +33 / 3 89 20 68 68 |
| Telefax | : | +33 / 3 89 23 97 19 |
| Address | : | Mairie de Colmar |
| pl de la Mairie | ||
| 68000 Colmar | ||
| France | ||
Colmar is situated in Alsace, at the foot of the Vosges mountains, in the north-east of France and is the capital city of the administrative unit (départment or province) of Upper Rhine. The city is linked by canal to the River Rhine which flows nearby. Included amongst important branches of industry in Colmar are mechanical engineering, food and textile industries. In addition, tourism plays an important role.
Project was added at 01.06.1995
Project was changed at 30.08.2001