Greta will cost far less than Rome bike-sharing competitor Uber Jump.

Commuters and tourists in Rome now have a new bike-sharing option with the arrival in the capital of Greta, the pedal-assisted e-bike operated by American micro-mobility company Helbiz.

Named after the teenage Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, the new white bicycles will be in competition with the recently-launched Jump, the bright red bikes operated by Uber.

The white Greta e-bikes cost far less than the bright-red Jump bicycles, however Uber covers an area of 57 square kilometres, more than double that of the 27-sqm area covered by Helbiz.

Greta bikes costs 25 cent to unlock, half the 50 cent unlocking fee charged by Uber Jump, and costs 7 cent a minute, in comparison to Jump's 20 cent per minute fee. Both Uber and Helbiz operate with the support of the city of Rome.

Currently there are just a few dozen Greta bikes in circulation, mainly in the city centre, but within a week the fleet will reach 500, and by Christmas there should be 2,500 Greta bikes on Rome's streets.

Equipped with GPS and a shopping basket, Greta bikes guarantee a range of up to 80 km when fully charged, and can reach a maximum speed of 25 kmp/h.

Villa Ada, Tiburtina, Prenestina, Centocelle, Monteverde, EUR and Monte Mario are just some of the areas already covered by the Greta bikes which can be left anywhere within the boundaries, clearly marked on the Helbiz app which can be downloaded on Apple or Android smartphones.

Revenues generated from Greta bikes first year in business will be reinvested to boost the Rome service according to Salvatore Palella, the Italian-American who founded Helbiz in New York in 2017.