Author: Denis Tahiri, Lutfi Dervishi
Whenever we mention the bicycle, many people may think of Shkodra – the capital of bicycles; a city where the love for the car, the "forbidden apple" for Albanians until the 90s, did not overshadow the famous two-wheeler.
The bicycle has returned after more than two decades in the Albanian capital, where bicycle lanes with different colors can be seen along some of the main roads.
In such a lane I met Naim, a 43-year-old Shkodra resident, and his two children.
Naimi, a Shkodran "with roots and branches" - as they say in Tirana - has been living in the capital for two decades and for two years has returned to his old love - cycling.
He says he wants to pass on the tradition of two-wheelers to children.
"Half the work has been done with the lanes. Not that it's improved anything, but better with them than without them"
The same opinion is shared by 57-year-old Ilir Malushi, who has not parted with a bicycle all his life.
"It's better," he says, referring to the lanes, "but I've been hit by cars a couple of times."
In Tirana after the 90s, both the people and the administration respected cars more than pedestrians. Widening of roads, narrowing of sidewalks, as well as significant investments have been made to systematize cars.
Ilir Malushi sees the problems of bicycle traffic as related to people who do not respect them.
Ened Mato, founder of Ecovolis-it, is known as one of the public promoters of cycling.
He is happy about the fact that he has a goal to make 22 of the 42 km of dedicated lanes.
"It still is student City, Rruga e Elbasani, Unaza e Re, the secondary road of Rinas, where there are schools and businesses and where dedicated lanes should be implemented as soon as possible", says environmentalist Ened Mato.
Good start, but with many problems
The objective of the municipality is for Tirana to be a capital, where the bicycle is an important means of transportation for citizens.
Currently, the municipality has invested in the Small Ring in the capital for lanes 1568 linear meters, in Dibra Street, 1210 linear meters, on the boulevard Martyrs of the Nation, 1740 linear meters, in Zogu I Boulevard, 620 linear meters, in the Lake park, 6200 linear meters, in the Middle Ring, 3100 linear meters, and has also made investments in several other axes.
But, from an observation, what impresses you is that very rarely these lanes resemble each other.
Many lanes are narrower than the required standard of two meters, while others are cut to give access to cars, businesses or even homes.
There are also cases where, although the lanes are part of a project to create a large network of bicycle lanes, they have different colors or are limited by concrete blocks or plastic signage.
If Tirana is filled with traffic lights for cars and pedestrians, traffic lights dedicated to bicycles at intersections are missing. Another problem is the inclusion of space for pedestrians in the bicycle lanes.
But, even though the number of bicycle users has increased significantly in Tirana, another problem that can be seen is the lack of dedicated parking lots.
The main parking place in the city for the bicycle remains the trees or lampposts.
Red lanes and "red flags" for... tenders
In addition to the problems encountered by an incomplete and well-thought-out infrastructure, there is also that of tenders.
According to Open Data Albania, there have been no shortage of problems in tenders for bicycles.
One of the tenders is that of "Bicycle lanes on Kavaja and Dibra Streets", where, according to Open Data Albania, all competing operators except the winning one are disqualified.
The same problem as above can be seen in the tender procured by Directorate No. 2 of the Workers of the City of Tirana. In this tender for "Bicycle lane signaling” all competing operators have been disqualified except for the one that won the tender.
The tender for "Bicycle lanes in First Bird Boulevard", where it is specified that there was no competition and the winner is the only competing operator.
Models of bicycle infrastructure in the world
Over 100 cars circulate in Tirana every day.
Lavdosh Ferruni is an environmentalist, whose bicycle has accompanied him throughout his life.
The desire and dream (not only his) is for Tirana to become like Amsterdam, a city where bicycles are used as much as cars.
"The infrastructure is still not complete.
There is no facilitating policy for the use of bicycles, such as encouragement from customs policies, facilitation with service points, etc."
But can Tirana really become like Amsterdam?
The differences between the two countries are very big. While in Tirana we are still talking about bicycle lanes in the city, the Netherlands is paying special attention to the creation of highways for bicycles, which connect cities with a distance of about 16 kilometers from each other. In 2018 the Dutch government made public the plan to invest 245 million euros for bicycle infrastructure and to increase the number of their users by about 200 thousand.
"We are planning to increase the use of bicycles to 9% by 2024”, – this is just a sentence excerpted from the speech of the French Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, in Nantes last year.
Over the next 7 years, France has planned to invest 350 million euros in infrastructure for bicycles, but, due to the increase in the number of people who use bicycles as their main means of transportation, France does not plan to stop only at investments in infrastructure.
In addition to bicycle parking, the government will give administration employees, who choose the bicycle as a means of transport to work, an amount of 200 euros per year, this tax-free.
In addition to the extensive financial support for bicycle communities, private companies will also have the opportunity to stimulate their employees to use bicycles with an amount of 400 euros per year.
By bike, better air in the city
"The benefits for the environment are very big, especially for Tirana.
Tirana has a polluted air that is mainly caused by cars and, taking into account that the cars will increase as a result of the increase in the population, the expectation is not good at all for air pollution", - says environmentalist Lavdosh Ferruni.
While in many European countries there are easing policies for anyone who uses a bicycle as the primary means of transportation, in Albania the debate is still the space we are taking from cars (?!)
It is now scientifically proven that cycling has numerous health benefits for all ages.
In 2007, a study concluded that children are even more positively affected by using a bicycle and that this exercise helps with control issues, such as attention deficit disorder.
"Cycling is also very good for the heart.
A recent study followed the 5-year activity of 1500 people.
Those who were regularly active were 31% less likely to develop arterial hypertension", says cardiologist Daniela Teferici, who adds that another study has revealed that doing exercise (cycling is one of the best exercises that a person can do, after putting the whole body into activity), is just as effective in lowering high blood pressure as a prescription drug.
But personal initiatives are not lacking.
"The bicycle is more human than cars, it has more advantages and now that the road is being opened, it will be used massively. We will continue to add small and large cyclists", says Mato, environmentalist and founder of Ecovolis-it.
Although Ecovolis was the first bicycle service company in Tirana, now what is seen in the capital is another bicycle model. As you may have seen in other European capitals, it is already present in Tirana Mobike.
Mobike combines the two-wheeler with technology, making cycling in the capital easier. Through an app you can very simply find where the nearest bike is, make the payment and continue the ride or go to another destination without having to pay cash or to leave identification documents at the bicycle pick-up point.
But, even though Mobike in its business philosophy is a bicycle without a station, this does not mean that bicycle stations are absent everywhere in the city.
The bike vs. car battle looks like a David vs. Goliath battle.
Decades of use have shown that having a car does not mean that you have more time, as it has been scientifically proven that having a bicycle means that you have more health.
*Journalist Denis Tahiri, Editor Lutfi Dervishi.
**In the main photo at the beginning of the article, some Ecovolis bicycles in Tirana. Photo: ACQJ.
***Note
This article was produced within the project "Tiranalytics: An assessment of public expenditures of local government in the Municipality of Tirana" which is supported by LevizAlbania. The opinions and positions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the donor.
