In Mannheim the 'RegioVelo' has riding around for some time, but recently, the German city of Karlsruhe has had its own variant: the 'BioVelo'. Once a week BioVelo rides through the city and delivers fruit and vegetables from a local grower directly to the final consumer. The unique feature is: people with disabilities bring the vegetable boxes by bike. Ka-news.de, a website for residents of Karlsruhe, spoke with founder Josef Held on the project.
"When I started the project, I did not think it would work so fast," says Held happily. He had heard of the 'RegioVelo' project in Mannheim and wanted to try something similar in Karlsruhe. As in Mannheim, also in Karlsruhe it help people into the labor market. In Karlsruhe, its people with disabilities who the courier journeys, sometimes accompanied by a bike courier from 'Radkurier Karlsruhe. Josef Hero's aim with his project is to encourage contact between people with disabilities and 'ordinary people', as he calls them.
In BioVelo is "Bioland Gärtnerei Schmälzle' from Sinzheim the main supplier of fruit and vegetables. The products are of organic quality. Until now BioVelo only deliver in the district Weststadt, but if there is sufficient demand in the future, perhaps other districts will be supplied. The deliveries take place every Tuesday between 8am and 1pm.