Milan launches Italy’s first citybikes for kids

Milan already runs a popular bikesharing service, and the yellow citybikes are a common sight in the city.

Now a Junior BikeMi station containing smaller versions of the bright yellow bikes has been set up in the city's central Piazza Castello, next to a pre-existing adult bike station.

The idea is to allow primary school children aged between five and 11 to take out the bikes when accompanied by their parents, allowing families to ride around the city centre in convoy.

Unlike the adult version of the scheme, the children's citybikes each come with a blue helmet to protect the youngsters from serious accidents should they fall.

For now Piazza Castello is the only station where the children's bikes can be found and it holds just 20 bikes – but the council have said they will extend the scheme if it proves to be a success.

The service will be free to use until the end of the year. After which, the council is considering introducing a membership card that will allow access to the Junior BikeMi scheme – exactly the same as for the grown-up version of the service.