It has been a difficult journey for the GIRA network. Still in October we learned that the public tender launched in February to buy 1,500 new bicycles went nowhere. However, there is now good news. The tender for the 1,500 bikes has been relaunched and in the meantime the tender for 600 bikes, which was running in parallel, has been completed. The result: the GIRA network will be reinforced in the short term with 730 electric bikes.
According to the Lisbon City Council website and Mayor Fernando Medina's Twitter account, EMEL will to receive around 400 new bikes this year, with the rest due to arrive in the first quarter of 2021. You will also receive 30 new docks to be placed in Baixa and Av. Almirante de Reis and in the parishes of Olivais and Lumiar.
The photos released of the new bikes show them being tested on the current system. The bikes have the same design as their predecessors, with one major difference: they will be prepared for child carriers.
According to figures released, Lisbon currently has 600 bicycles in the shared system, 200 of which are electric. Since 2017, when the system was launched, there have been more than 3.5 million trips, with around 6,800 active annual passes and 2,200 monthly passes. Since May this year, EMEL has been responsible for managing and maintaining the entire GIRA network, which in addition to the bicycles includes 84 active stations.
