REGIONAL INFORMATION:
Veneto / Italy

Description

The ELDBicycle had been designed and realized in the Province of Treviso (Veneto Region, Italy), a territory famous for high-quality craftsmanship and for a long tradition on bicycle construction. The ELDBicycle is the result of the cooperation between the public institution (Province of Treviso) and a firm (P-Factor, Monastier Municipality, Treviso) operating in the area of design and high-tech products. Once realized, the 2 prototypes of ELDBicycle have been placed in 2 residential care structures located in Treviso Province territories (Villa d’Argento Fundation and ISRAA) in order to be tested along 2 different cycling routes:

• From ISRAA (Treviso) to Treviso Province Building along the cycling route of the Storga Park

• From Fondazione Casa Argento (Silea) to Treviso City Center along the cycling route of the Restera Park (Sile River)

In May 2011, the ELDBicycle had been exposed during the Q-Ageing international meeting in Freiburg (DE) and tested in the urban center area, where it received lot of attention and positive comments.

Objective

Since many other tools are available on the market, Province of Treviso developed a bike (ELDbicycle), which aimed to mobilize those elderly (e.g. living in elderly houses) who cannot drive a bicycle alone, and thus to improve their quality of life with more time in open air. Moreover, since some problems of intellectual property rights emerged, the property of the ELDBicycle remains on the producers (P Factor) and, with a specific agreement, the free use of the ELDBicycle had been granted to Treviso province till the project end.

Specific Objectives

• To enable senior citizens, and in particular not self sufficient seniors, to spend more time on open air in order to improve their quality of life

• To create an environmentally-friendly mean of transportation (0 emission, solar energy engine) tailored on senior with particular difficulties of movement. The ELDBicycle is equipped with photovoltaic panels that charge the battery of the electric bicycle pulling the risciò

• To create a socially-friendly mean of transportation, good for parks & gardens as well as for European cycling routes (not only for elderly), enabling people to sit face – to – face and favouring dialogue and socialization

• To realize a powerful communication & raising awareness tool (attractive and stylish) able to promote both active & healthy ageing and environmental sustainability

Concrete Activities

April 2010: Survey on ELDERLY & MOBILITY IN TREVISO PROVINCE. Part of the Q Ageing Situation analysis of Treviso Province has been targeted on “mobility needs” senior population in our territory.

May / June 2010: FEASIBILITY STUDY. An external specialized company (Kairos spa) has been selected to carry on the feasibility studies of ELDBicycle idea. They compared the results of the survey with the requirements of the design and project, in particular concerning the rules for the homologation for running on streets.

July / September 2010: ELDBICYCLE REALIZATION. A public call for tender had been launched by Treviso Province and P-Factor resulted the best company to realize the ELDBicycle. They designed the model, with a constant cooperation with Treviso Province offices (mobility, environment and social departments) and then realized 2 ELDBicycle prototypes.

October 2010: OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE ELDBICYCLE. The ELDBicycle had been officially launched the 8th of October 2010, with several local decision makers & media attending the event.

October 2010 / March 2011: TESTING. The ELDBicycle have been tested for 6 months in cooperation with the 2 local rest homes for elderly (Villa d’Argento Fundation and ISRAA). 

Concrete Results

The pilot project ELDBicycle did not simply produce the 2 prototypes. The Province of Treviso tested them with the collaboration of two local rest homes for elderly (ISRAA & Fondazione Villa

d’Argento) for a period of 6 months. By acting this way, more than100 elderly people had the chance to test this vehicles, improving their quality of life and providing also important advices and information to both engineers and decision makers.

From the end of the testing phase (October 2010 – March 2011), the prototypes had been modified following the suggestions and indication of senior users and then exposed / used in Treviso Province park till March 2012 (the ELDBicycle had also been exposed in Milan during the MIT Fair).

After the end of the Q Ageing project (March 2012), due to the fact that the intellectual property right of the ELDBicycle remained property of the producer (P-Factor company), the 2 ELDBicycle prototypes went back to the company. A cost analysis demonstrated that for the company, in order to be convenient, the ELDBicycle should be produced in at least 100 pieces.

For further information please click on the PROJECTS WEBSITE.