Mobike, the Chinese bike sharing giant, launches Tirana operations
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- “With the launch of Mobike, Tirana becomes the Balkans' first city that introduces the station-free biking system. Everyone can download the application from their mobile phones and use a bike by scanning their barcode,” says Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, confident that technology and mobility will transform Albania’s capital city
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TIRANA, June 4 – Tirana has become Europe’s newest destination and the Balkans’ first where Chinese bike-sharing giant Mobike is launching operations offering its innovative cashless and station-free bike sharing platform for short journeys, the Tirana Municipality says.
As testing is underway before the official June 8 launch, Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj says 4,000 smart bikes will be made available in Tirana, transforming mobility and connectivity in the capital city.
“Mobike is a company which in Albania will operate as Chinese-Italian cooperation. We saw it the last time we were at the Municipality of Florence, and without losing time and seeing that many town halls in the Netherlands have introduced the Mobike concept, we are ready to bring hundreds of bikes in Tirana next week in order to make riding popular in our city,” says Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj.
His comments came on Sunday, June 3, the World Bicycle Day, as the first Mobike tests were conducted through Tirana streets and the municipality signed a cooperation deal with a Mobike representative.
“With the launch of Mobike, Tirana becomes the Balkans’ first city that introduces the station-free biking system. Everyone can download the application from their mobile phones and use a bike by scanning their barcode,” says Veliaj, confident that technology and mobility will transform Tirana.
Tirana has already had a small bike sharing company for the past seven years and riding although still in its beginnings is gradually gaining popularity as more lanes become available, citizens adopt greener lifestyles and car parking fees in downtown streets become unaffordable to many.
“Our city has only one way out and that is embracing the bicycle. We cannot remain hostage to cars,” said Veliaj as he introduced activist Ened Mato, as the city’s honorary ‘Bike Mayor’ to promote biking.
Tirana recently made it to the top ten European hotspots for 2018 in Lonely Planet’s travel guide describing it as a vigorous metropolis that has undergone major transformation and become greener.
The largest bike-sharing company in the world, Mobike is a China-based startup which has 9 million of its orange bicycles currently operating in over 200 cities across 16 countries globally, including Germany, France, the UK.
Using specially designed bicycles equipped with GPS and smart-lock technology, Mobike enables users of its smartphone app to find a bicycle near them, reserve and unlock it, then complete their trip by simply closing the lock anywhere regular bicycle parking is allowed.
The company’s global expansion comes only two years after officially launching its service. Mobike was recently acquired for $2.7 billion, changing hands to another Chinese investor.
