Buy a card costing between 25 and 30 Euros a year, go to one of the 20 points that Vilamoura will have available, take away a bike and go to your destination. Once you have done your shopping, gone to the cinema or finished you meal with friends, all you need to do is visit another point, take another bike and continue your trip. This is the system Inframoura is setting up, with the ongoing intention of offering a town that is increasingly healthier and therefore having better quality of life.

These are bicycles to be used on a sharing basis, for 30-minute rides and available 24 hours per day. They are linked to a computer system by electronic chips so that the control centre can locate all the 'two-wheelers' which are fitted with anti-vandalism devices as they have several unique parts, and are permanently maintained. For example, punctures will therefore be repaired immediately while the users can continue their trips on other bikes. Also, whenever any point has only five units available a vehicle is sent to provide more to meet requirements.
Paris, Zaragoza and Lyon are some examples of cities that have successfully introduced this system. The French capital, for instance, has two points close to the woods where the bicycles are used for recreational rides as well as regular transport.

In Zaragoza, on the other hand, the initiative was such a hit that a waiting list was required for those interested in buying cards to have access to the twenty existing points. Being a generally flat resort having a climate with some 300 sunny days per year and a network of cycle paths, Vilamoura is an ideal place for residents and summer visitors to benefit from such an alternative means of transport as from next July.
 

Of course, a scheme of this kind involves considerable expenditure, but Inframoura, who are determined to provide whatever is required to improve the resort, will adopt the most innovative methods for this purpose by negotiating contracts with advertising firms. Inframoura will therefore soon hold a public tender whereby the setting up and maintenance of the shared bicycle service are provided in exchange for granting the rights to sell outdoor advertising in Vilamoura's public areas. This way of improving the Vilamoura resort will lead to extra environmental quality, and consequently quality of life, as from July next year.