TIRANA, April 20 /ATA/ Urban public transport in Tirana will see some positive changes in the service of citizens, but also in improvement of the traffic in the city.
The Municipality of Tirana, in collaboration with experts and the German agency GIZ, is studying the plan to convert three existing lines into dedicated bus lanes in order for the citizens to move faster.
The news was given by the Mayor Erion Veliaj in the rollout of the green bus fleet, in an event which was attended by German GIZ experts, who are assisting the Municipality of Tirana with upgrading the transport service.
“To make the use of the bus even more enjoyable and convenient, together with GIZ experts we are drafting a plan to turn three lines of Tirana – the Kinostudio-Kombinat line, the bypass line and the New Tirana line into ‘Bus Rapid Transit’: that is, dedicated lane lines, similar to the ones you may have seen in Istanbul, that function as a tram or subway, but in this case are buses. There are many people who say why we cannot build a tramline or subway in Tirana. First, because we do not pledge for the purposes of campaign and then fail on the commitment. Secondly, it is a matter of accounting. Many Balkan countries, such as Bulgaria or Romania, can afford the tram because of the subsidies because they are members of the EU,” Veliaj said.
The mayor stressed that currently the public transport ticket is the lowest in the region, while assuring that the government and the municipality will continue to subsidize the operators in order to keep the price unchanged.
GIZ expert Christian Mettke said he was proud of the results achieved in Tirana with the improvement of the public transport service. “About 200,000 cars are used in Tirana, which means that we need to do more in terms of public transport. We are working hard and I am happy that the work has paid off. We have a new fleet of electric buses, which we intend to expand. “This has brought a significant economic impact,” he said.
For her part, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku stated on Wednesday that the government will support any initiative to increase the quality of public transport.
During the event held on Wednesday in Tirana, for the rollout of the green fleet of electric buses, Minister Balluku described it as a major step towards the modernization of public transport in the capital.
“Public transport is vital for Tirana. The government will launch important policies to improve mobility but also in terms of environmental impact, as we know that Albania insures a chunk of its revenue from tourism. Public transport is very important because it costs less and improve air quality. The pandemic showed us what it is like to lead a car-free life. Today we are aware of what we have to do and the task of the government is to push this sector to make citizens more sensitive to the need for use of electric vehicles or encourage municipalities to create new hybrid or electric fleets,” said Balluku.
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