A Benfica Parish Council recently announced the location of the first six GIRA stations that will be installed in the parish during the month of August. The stations will be placed in locations with a cycle path or where this infrastructure is planned, such as Rua da Venezuela or Avenida do Uruguai:
- Rua Tenente Coronel Ribeiro dos Reis (next to the flyover to Monsanto);
- Rua José dos Santos Pereira (intersection with Rua Carolina Michaelis);
- Rua da Venezuela (in front of Benfica Station);
- Avenida do Uruguai;
- Fonte Nova Square;
- Avenida do Colégio Militar (next to the terminal).
In the neighboring parish of São Domingos de Benfica, 8 stations will be installed.
- Av Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro;
- Sete Rios Interface;
- Sete Rios Terminal;
- Rua Prof. Lima Basto;
- Rua São Domingos de Benfica;
- Conde Almoster Street (Carlos Pereira Street);
- Rua Inácio de Sousa;
- Rua Sousa Loureiro.
Although installation will take place during the summer, the stations are not expected to start operating until some time later, as there are bureaucratic and technical processes involved. Benfica is one of Lisbon's most populous parishes with more than 36,000 residents, according to the 2011 Census. Even so, it was one of the parishes not covered by the expansion of GIRA stations in the first and second phases - the latter, which took place in recent months, covered Olivais (which has more than 33,000 residents), the Alameda das Linha de Torres axis in Lumiar (more than 45,000 inhabitants), Almirante Reis and downtown.
EMEL plans, however, to put 54 of the 80 stations it is due to install in the city by the end of September into operation. The GIRA network will now cover a significant area of the city: in addition to Olivais, Alameda das Linhas de Torres, Almirante Reis, downtown and Benfica, also São Domingos de Benfica, Carnide, Lumiar/Telheiras and the 24 de Julho/Avenida da Índia axis up to Restelo. The GIRA network currently has 91 stations in operation, representing a total of approximately 1,700 bicycle docks, which are also increasing in number. This week, three new stations were opened on the waterfront, in the parishes of Alcântara and Belém: Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Av. Brasília/Cordoaria and Av. Brasília/Doca de Alcântara.
"The opening of these new (and long-awaited) stations is the result of the work that EMEL has done over the last year: from the internalization of GIRA with the hiring of mechanics and field technicians, logistical reorganization in such a challenging time given the shortage of parts and components, acquisition of new bicycles and stations and recovery of an inactive fleet (almost 50% at the time)"said Bruno Vasconcelos Maia, EMEL's director of mobility systems, on LinkedIn.
(News updated on 16/07/2021)
