GREEN TRANSPORT | G.R.E.E.N. in Europe

Proposer Country

■ Basque Country

To which subject of the Sustainability does it refer ?

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Who does it practise ?

Everyone who lives in Bilbao or goes there

Where?

Bilbao

When?

Subway: Everyday, everytime nearly every 5 minutes in different directions

Bicycles: From Monday to Friday, 9:00a.m-7:30 p.m

Why do you think that this best practice can be exported ?

Because in our opinion this practice is not so expensive, and most people like it, it is a quick way of transport. On the other hand bicycles also have other advantages: when you are practicing it you exercise your body, so apart from helping to save the environment, you can also have fun and keep healthy at the same time.

Describe the activity

Just a few years ago Bilbao´s town hall created this project called “Bilbon bizi” to save the environment and to promote the use of bikes. There are some establishments around the city where you can rent bikes. There are a lot of ways to contact with those places and you just need to send your documentation. Although it is not the most comfortable transport to go through Bilbao, taking into account that there are sloves, it is the most sustainable one.

Even though it is not as sustainable as bikes, the subway is the most comfortable one. The first idea of building a subway system in Bilbao came up at the 1920s.

In 1971 the government of Bizkaia created a commission to evaluate the transportation needs of Greater Bilbao. Five years later two proposals were created to start a subway service, the first of them is almost identical to the current network.

Finally in 1987 the Basque Government approved the plan to build and finance the Bilbao Subway. It was founded in 1995 and nowadays is the most used transport to go through Bilbao.

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