Overview
- The municipal government has announced a prohibition on all bicycles, including e-bikes, inside Como’s narrow historic centre with the rule planned to begin in September.
- Officials say Italy’s road-traffic rules bar legal distinctions between e-bikes and conventional bicycles, so the city framed the measure as a blanket bicycle ban rather than an e-bike-only rule.
- Rapinese cites his mid-July collision with an e-bike as the direct catalyst and points to prior local steps such as a 2022 ban on e-scooter rentals while urging tighter rules like registration or insurance for motorised two-wheelers.
- The package of changes also expands pedestrian zones and limits delivery traffic to a narrow morning window reportedly from 6 to 11 a.m., a move that local shopkeepers say could disrupt supply runs and tourism services.
- Civic group Nova Como has organized a planned bicycle protest and merchants and residents are mobilising in opposition, arguing the ban punishes all cyclists for isolated incidents and raises concerns about access for people who rely on bikes.