Roma Bike has begun with 200 bikes available for residents and tourists alike at 19 automated stations around the historic centre, and has plans to extend further and with more bikes if the experimental phase is successful.

The first half hour is free, after which there is a minor fee (second half hour €1, the third half hour €2 and so on until a maximum of four hours).

To use the bikes, one must first pay a deposit of €30 and buy a card of €5, €10 or €20 from one of the tourist information offices, which are in Via Giolitti, Via Marco Minghetti (Piazza di Spagna), Piazza delle Cinque Lune (Piazza Navona), Castel S. Angelo, Via Nazionale, Piazza S. Maria Maggiore and Piazza Sydney Sonnino (Trastevere).

Using the bike card, take a bike from any of the 19 stands thanks to a card reader at the stations. It is then possible to leave the bike at any of the stands around town located at places such as Piazza del Popolo, Largo Argentina, and the Colosseum.

The city council made announcements about the imminent arrival of the bike-sharing project in early January before running into problems about siting the stands.

Roma Bike has now been launched at no cost to the city in its six months experimental stage thanks to the sponsorship of the Spanish company Cemusa. Earnings will go towards covering maintenance costs.

Roma Bike is a part of an overall push in Europe to introduce automated bike sharing programmes in cities to help reduce traffic and pollution. Many cyclists in Rome hope that with the introduction of bike sharing the city council will make further efforts to make the city more bike friendly.