Whilst I am an advocate for all things “green”, I am not someone who was blessed with the grace, balance, or spatial awareness to operate a bicycle- especially in Albania. I try to walk everywhere, I don’t drive, I use public transport and I will only resort to a taxi as a last resort. For those that live and work in Tirana and are getting sick of the traffic congestion, there is an exciting new development afoot that could help to make a big difference.
Enter the “Mobike”. Launched on June 8th in Tirana, we have become the first city in the Balkans to introduce these snazzy orange and silver bikes into society. The launch is the result of a collaboration between Mobike and the Municipality of Tirana. The bikes are designed to offer a sustainable and affordable solution to using private cars, and it is hoped that their use will benefit users, local businesses and communities.
There is no doubt that traffic is a problem in Tirana. At certain points of the day, entire zones come to a standstill and it can take hours to get from one side of the centre to the other. Not only is this congestion impacting local’s sanity, but it is also contributing to pollution, dust, and harmful emissions to the city and those that breathe its air. There is no doubt that people need to be convinced to get out of their cars, but are these bikes the incentive people need?
The so-called “smart bikes” operate via an application that can be downloaded onto your mobile for free. You rock up to a dock, scan the bike, and off you go. Hiring a bike costs 40lek for 20 minutes or 1900 lek for unlimited monthly use. Compare that to the cost of running a car and it is not hard to see the attraction.
The concept has already been proven- Mobike was founded in Beijing in January 2015, and officially launched its service in Shanghai on April 22, 2016. Since then it has expanded to over 200 cities around the world, serving over 200 million users with a fleet of more than 9 million smart Mobikes worldwide. In other words, it works but will it catch on here?
To me, this seems like a convenient and simple solution. It is cheap, affordable, user-friendly, will keep you fit, reduce traffic, and help save the environment. With so many so quick to complain about congestion and pollution, I expect to see these Mobikes becoming a huge success and the traffic in Tirana decreasing markedly over the next week or so. Ok, so perhaps the uptake will be a little slow, but I really think this could be a viable solution to the traffic problem as well as providing cheap transport for those on a limited budget. Of course, the issue of wearing helmets and the behaviour of car drivers needs to be addressed, but that is another conversation.
I have been following social media posts on the launch of this new idea, and it seems that some people have misunderstood the concept of “hiring” and have actually been stealing these bikes. Please people, these cycles are here for everyone and they are here to make your life that little bit better. Let’s not spoil it by behaving like a bit of a muppet.
If you haven’t already, you can download the Mobike App here for Android and here for iPhone. Why not give it a go? You could be a part of a big change.
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