ROME, May 24 (UPI) -- A quarter-million more bicycles were sold in Italy in 2012 than automobiles, the transport undersecretary said, calling it a revolution in commuting.
Bicycle sales outpaced those of cars by 2,000 in 2011, but last year 1.65 million bicycles were sold in the country, compared to 1.4 million cars, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Friday, adding it has been 48 years since more bicycles than cars were sold.
"There is a silent revolution taking place on two wheels in our cities, "transport undersecretary Erasmo D'Angelis said. "It's a true and proper boom of people using bikes as a daily mode of transportation."
D'Angelis added the reason is primarily the country's ongoing recession, the worst since World War II by some measures.
