eco_bicycle_albania
Ecovolis - Albania Bike Sharing System
Ecovolis program has proven successful in dramatically increasing bicycle use in Tirana, which, formerly, was a city without a developed bicycle culture. Ecovolis program is the first project in Albania that provides low-income adults with commuter bicycles as well as a donating program for children bicycles. The program recently completed two major steps, opening new bike stations in the city of Durrës and integrating Tourist Information Point Service to the bicycles stations' structure.
History
The Tirana Community Bicycle Albania project won financial support from the George Soros Open Society Foundation Albania (OSFA). An even larger contribution came from the US-based Pedal for Progress organization, which donated 450 bicycles. Sixty of these were used road bikes, which were modified and painted by local technicians to serve as public bikes in the Ecovolis scheme. Another portion was set aside to donate to children and to activists and volunteers at PASS. Still another portion were diverted to the project's Eco Bicycle Shop, a social enterprise which sells bikes for USD 50-150 and reinvests profits for the service and maintenance of Ecovolis bicycles. The main objective of the program was to introduce the community to an inexpensive, environmental friendly form of transport -- the bicycle; to sell used bikes at low prices; to donate bikes to the children of needy families and to PASS volunteers; to establish a bike sharing-scheme in the city (Ecovolis); and to employ financially disadvantaged people and young students to operate the bike-sharing scheme.
Ecovolis - Albania Bike Sharing System
Ecovolis program has proven successful in dramatically increasing bicycle use in Tirana, which, formerly, was a city without a developed bicycle culture. Ecovolis program is the first project in Albania that provides low-income adults with commuter bicycles as well as a donating program for children bicycles. The program recently completed two major steps, opening new bike stations in the city of Durrës and integrating Tourist Information Point Service to the bicycles stations' structure.
History
The Tirana Community Bicycle Albania project won financial support from the George Soros Open Society Foundation Albania (OSFA). An even larger contribution came from the US-based Pedal for Progress organization, which donated 450 bicycles. Sixty of these were used road bikes, which were modified and painted by local technicians to serve as public bikes in the Ecovolis scheme. Another portion was set aside to donate to children and to activists and volunteers at PASS. Still another portion were diverted to the project's Eco Bicycle Shop, a social enterprise which sells bikes for USD 50-150 and reinvests profits for the service and maintenance of Ecovolis bicycles. The main objective of the program was to introduce the community to an inexpensive, environmental friendly form of transport -- the bicycle; to sell used bikes at low prices; to donate bikes to the children of needy families and to PASS volunteers; to establish a bike sharing-scheme in the city (Ecovolis); and to employ financially disadvantaged people and young students to operate the bike-sharing scheme.