When more is said mobility in big cities and of the need to plan transportation From a supra-municipal point of view, it is surprising that the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) is about to launch a shared bike system -it should happen at the end of the year or at the beginning of 2023- which will not operate within the Catalan capital. The agency launched a public contest to which three applicants applied. One of them is the same company that operates the bicingbut the prize has been won by the temporary union of companies formed by Movus, Movement and Nextbike, which put on the table the cheapest offer for the Administration. Since the bases did not include the obligation to make both systems compatiblewe will have to wait for both contracts expireat the end of the decade, to propose a new Truly metropolitan public cyclist sharing.
The winner, whose name has been published by La Vanguardia, has prevailed over Ferrovial and PBSC (the current managers of Bicing) and City Global S.A.. Although the award has not been duly published in the contractor profile, the companies have already been informed of the ruling. The shared public bicycle project was announced by surprise in July 2021 by the Vice President of Mobility of the AMB, Anthony Povedaduring the presentation of a bike box stationthe secure bicycle parking lots that are another example of an airtight compartment in terms of metropolitan mobility, since they are in a good part of the municipalities that surround the Catalan capital but not in Barcelona itself.
converge
The then Councilor for Mobility, Rosa Alarconsaid that work would be done “so that the new metropolitan Bicing can converge” with the system from the big city. But it won’t be possible. Unless ‘merge’ means that you have to jump from one bike to the other. Different bikes, different seasons and different rates. The AMB itself, through a statement, was going in the same direction as the socialist mayor of the Barcelona town hall. “We are working satisfactorily and in a coordinated manner to enforce compatibility of the two public bicycle systems”, read the note.
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A spokesman for the AMB explains that the public tender could not include a clause requiring the creation of a metropolitan system compatible with Bicing. He assures that it is “separate and independent contracts” and points out that the “technical prescriptions of the tenders must respect the principles of the public sector contract law, especially that of equal treatment of bidders and the concurrence”. Or what is the same, including the obligation to pair both systems could benefit the operator of the Barcelona bike, which was one of the applicants. If the plans do not change, the service will have 2,000 bicycles spread over 200 stations which will be installed in 15 municipalities in the metropolitan area: L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Cornellà de Llobregat, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, El Prat de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Sant Joan Despí, Sant Just Desvern, Molins de Rei, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Viladecans, Gavà, Castelldefels.
The AMB already called a public contest for Bicing metropolitan in 2009. No one showed up. In 2018 there was a second try and 250 bikes were deployed in 10 municipalities. An anecdote from which to take note of the good and the bad. Next year comes the third attempt. And in 2030, perhaps, the fourth and final.