Free GIRA for all Lisbon residents: how does it work?

This Friday, May 26th, the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce made the use of GIRA free of charge for residents. Those who have a free public transport pass (students up to 23/24 years old and over 65 years old) can already join on the GIRA app; the others will have to wait until June 5 to ask at an EMEL service counter for a voucher.

For Carlos Moedas, the integration of GIRA in Navegante, making it free for all people living in Lisbon and carrying this monthly pass, is "a step towards decarbonization". There is "few cities in Europe", said the Mayor of Lisbon, "in which the city's bicycles are free"stressing that Lisbon "must be a carbon neutral city by 2030". The path of "climate fight"Moedas added, "is for people to feel that this struggle also brings them benefits".

Who has access to the free GIRA?

All Lisbon tax residents, that is, people who have their tax domicile in Lisboncan use the city's bike sharing system for free. To enjoy this benefit, they also need to have a Navegante card with an active monthly pass (which can be the Municipal or Metropolitan modality).

Note that residents under the age of 16 cannot have free GIRA, since this service requires a minimum age of 16. On the other hand, non-tax residents in Lisbon do not have free access to GIRA but can use the service by subscribing to one of the paid passes (the annual one, for example, costs only 25 euros/year).

How can I join?

The adhesion to the free GIRA is different depending on whether or not residents have access to the free public transportation pass, offered by the Lisbon City Hall since the end of 2022. Those who have (students up to the age of 23/24 and older than 65) can do the activation directly in the apptoday. The others will have, as of June 5th, to go to an EMEL service counter (Laranjeiras, Saldanha or Campo Grande) to order a voucherwhich will consist of a promotional code that will give access to a free GIRA pass.

This mechanism with voucher will be temporaryuntil EMEL manages to develop a computer solution so that all Lisbon tax residents with an active Navegante pass can activate a free pass directly on the app. EMEL explains that at the moment it can only validate the free pass automatically for people who have the Municipal transport pass provided free of charge by the municipality, so it had to find this solution for residents without this pass.

In any case, by this measure they are covered even all tax residents in LisbonThis includes young people who are not students but have their tax domicile in the city, people who are between 24 and 64 years old, and also all those who, instead of the free Municipal pass, opt for the Metropolitan pass (which is not offered by the City).

How can I activate the free GIRA?

The activation of the free GIRA is done in the app, for those who have the free transport pass and for those who don't. The process is distinct:

• those who have the free Navegante (students and over 65 years old) will only have to go to section "Passes" in the GIRA app and choose the option "GIRA Navegante. Then just enter the number of the Navegante card and wait for it to be automatically validated. If any error occurs, it's best to talk to the GIRA team by e-mail gira@emel.pt or go to an EMEL service point.
• those that don't have the free "Navegante" pass (most residents) will have to enter the code given at an EMEL service point in the "Promotions" section of the GIRA app. That code will give access to the "GIRA Navegante" pass and will have to be reinserted (the same code) every month to revalidate that pass (i.e. to verify that the user still has an active Navegante pass and therefore can benefit from the free GIRA). Every six months you will have to go back to an in-person service point to request a new code, but note that this step will only be necessary if, six months from now, EMEL has not yet developed such an automated solution in the app itself.

There are EMEL service points at these three locations: Laranjeiras Citizen Store, Saldanha Citizen Store e Campo Grande CML Store.

I am not entitled to the free GIRA, what options do I have?

GIRA offers three types of passes:

• an annualfor those who use the service frequently;
• an monthlyThe GIRA can be used by those who are in town for a while and want to use the bicycle as a means of transportation, as well as those who want to try out the GIRA before committing to a longer subscription;
• and a diaryI'm thinking about those really occasional users and tourists.

All these passes allow free and unlimited GIRA travel for 45 minutes. If you exceed this time, there is an extra charge for each 45 minute period. However, you can return the bike to a station before the 45 free minutes are up and pick up another one after five minutes of waiting, without paying extra. You can also pay for the extra periods with the points you accumulate while using GIRA.

Do I have to have an active Navegante pass in order to use GIRA for free?

Yes, EMEL says Although the "GIRA Navegante" pass is valid for one year, this validity is subject to monthly verification that the user has an active Navegante pass. This verification is made by Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML), which manages the Navegante ticketing in all the Lisbon metropolitan area. The "GIRA Navegante" pass will be deactivated and the respective membership cancelled if, for six consecutive months, it is verified that the user does not have a valid Navegante pass.

Can I lend my GIRA account free of charge to someone not residing in Lisbon?

No, the terms and conditions of the GIRA service are clear: "It is prohibited for User(s)/Client to lend, rent, sell or assign to Third Parties the Bike or the use of the Gira Service and related access credentials." And more: "EMEL may, without prior notice, suspend, block, interrupt or cancel the Gira Service, as well as the User/Client Account, namely, in situations that it considers to be the appropriate measure, such as: (...) When it has reasonable suspicion that the Gira Service is being used abusively or fraudulently by the User/Client or by third parties.

In other words, the GIRA account is yours, is personal, and is non-transferable.

I don't have a Navegante card, how can I get one?

To have access to the GIRA system for free, you must also be a tax resident in Lisbon, you need to have a Navegante card (those hard ones, not disposable) and also an active monthly pass on that same card (which can be Municipal or Metropolitan).

If you don't have this card, you can make one in a few minutes in a Ponto Navegante machine or at an operator's service desk, as well as at a Navigator Space. It costs you $12, is valid for five years, and allows you:

• use all public transportation in the Lisbon metropolitan area, having an active monthly Navegante pass and/or loaded zapping balance, all on the same card;
• use Lisbon's BiciParks network, which allows secure bicycle parking in EMEL's parks, as well as the BiciBox existing in Setúbal's Transport Interface;
• access GIRA for free if you are a Lisbon tax resident and subscribe to a monthly Navegante pass.

I have never used GIRA, how can I get started?

The first step is to download the GIRA app to your cell phone (iOS or Android). If you already have an EMEL account (because you are an ePark user, for example), you can log in with the same data. If you have never had contact with EMEL, you have to register for free, and you can do everything in the app.

Once you have completed the registration, you will be asked to subscribe to a pass. You can choose the daily, monthly, annual or the new "GIRA Navegante" option.

Will there be more stations and bikes? Will the application be improved? What about the areas of Lisbon where there is no GIRA?

GIRA currently has 146 stations and 2873 parking docks, spread over a good part of the city. Although EMEL indicates that more than 50% of Lisbon residents live less than 10 minutes walking distance from a GIRA station, parishes like Penha de França, Beato, Marvila and Santa Clara don't have a single station. The service is still scarce in parishes like Belém, Ajuda, Alcântara, Misericórdia or Estrela. There are numerous neighborhoods and areas of the city without GIRA, as is the case of Alta de Lisboa, just to give an example.

So what is in store for GIRA to grow?

• to reinforce the GIRA network with 900 electric bicycles this year, 2023. Of these, 500 will be new and 400 will be "classic" bicycles that will be electrified;
• increase the number of stations at a rate of 20 new stations per year. For this 2023, however, 29 new stations are planned, and six of these 29 have already opened;
• take GIRA to all parishes of Lisbon by 2025;
• develop a new app that encompasses EMEL services (GIRA, ePark, etc).

Since the launch of Lisbon's public bike-sharing network in 2017, GIRA has performed almost nine million trips. In 2022 there was a record 2.6 million trips performed, more than double the previous year. This year, GIRA is preparing to exceed all the marks registered so far: in the first five months of 2023 almost 1.5 million trips and, last May 3rd, the number of 12,500 trips in one day. The GIRA network has about 1600 bicycles, with about one thousand available daily.

Updated at 11:40 a.m. on June 5, 2023: added more details about the vouchers.