The expansion of Lisbon's bike sharing network, GIRA, will start to be visible as of next week, with the installation of new stations. The process, which involves 30 new stations, may take four weeks. The news is advanced this Friday by the newspaper Mensagem, who visited GIRA's workshops in Cabo Ruivo.
As already announcedThese 30 new stations will be installed on Avenida Almirante de Reis and in Olivais and Lumiar, where it has been or is being created cycling infrastructure. According to the Message, the new stations will not be operational so soononce they are installed on the ground, there are still electrical connections that need to be made and other steps to be followed. EMEL's expectation is to open these stations during the summer.
Meanwhile, in April, some of the long-established stations should be opened and which were never activated: four in the University City and three in riverside frontas Message also progresses.
The newspaper also says that it is planned a total of 80 new GIRA stations for this year, where the 50 stations that make up the second phase will be installed in the cycling connection between downtown and Algés (taking advantage of the future bicycle path of the Avenue of India), between Avenidas Novas and Campolide and between Amoreiras and Campo de Ourique. Benfica, São Domingos de Benfica, Carnide, Sete Rios and Praça de Espanha are also on the list.
Two new bicycle tenders
EMEL, which started managing the GIRA system alone after Órbita went bankrupt, has a closed public tender and another one under way for the acquisition of new bicycles to reinforce the supply on the streetIn round numbers, and according to Mensagem, the service currently has about 500 bicycles in service and 300 under repair.
In a first step, they are arriving 730 new electric bikes to the hands of EMEL, delivered by the consortium formed by MEO and Soltráfego. These new bicycles are identical to the previous ones; they have a reinforced front basket, better protection against theft, a holder so that users can add a child seat (which can be ordered from EMEL) and also a lock that, through the GIRA app (which is being improved), will lock the rear wheel to allow quick stops - the councilman of mobility, Miguel Gaspar, recently showed this lock on TVI.
In a second phase, another 1500 to 2000 bicycles will be added in stages, which will all be electric as well. The public tender for this purpose is still underway, and the bids are being analyzed; the number of bicycles hired will depend on the unit value defined by the winner of the tender. This tender had to be launched twice, after on the first try the process was interrupted because none of the proposals met all of EMEL's requirements.
As Bruno Vasconcelos Maia, responsible for the management of EMEL's mobility systems, explained to MessageAlthough the 730 new bikes look like the current GIRA bikes, it doesn't mean that this will be the case from now on: "We like to assume that Gira is like the Carris of bicycles. In the same way that Carris buys different new buses from different manufacturers, in the end they all show up painted yellow." All bicycles will then use the same docking system, which is owned by EMEL, and ensures the compatibility of the vehicles with the docks.
