TIRANA, Aug 9 /ATA/ The municipality of Tirana is implementing with the assistance of GIZ and the German KfW the project for the construction of the infrastructure for the extension of the dedicated lanes for the city transport service on some main streets of Tirana, the optimization of the bus stations and their computerization.
The municipality of Tirana has started this project from Unit 7, initially focusing on the segments: “Zogu i Zi Roundabout – 21 Dhjetori”, “21 Dhjetori – Vasil Shanto”, “Vasil Shanto” – Brryl intersection and “Kavajja street – intersection 21 Dhjetori”.
The mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, inspected during the evening the kickoff of the work, emphasizing the importance of the project, which improves circulation of buses and service for citizens.
“We are starting from Unit 7, in the segment from “Zogu i Zi” heading for “21 Dhjetori” and “Vasil Shanto”, where we will also have lanes for bicycles and scooters. We have found Tirana with 1% of citizens using bicycles, while today this number has reached 10%. The more we encourage these lanes, the more we ease the road traffic. “Every person who chooses an alternative way – on foot, by bicycle or scooter – has practically avoided the traffic and helped both those who travel by bus and car,” said Veliaj.
The mayor added that this intervention prioritizes the dedicated bus lanes, where the same successful experience will be applied, as in Durrës Street or “Dritan Hoxha” street.
The project of dedicated lanes and renewal of the bus service is called “Urbani” and includes the placement of stations on Google Maps, their equipment with information boards, route number, etc.
“We have seen some very successful experiments on ‘Durrës Street’, on ‘Dritan Hoxha’ street, where the bus lane is express and comfortable. The bus slows down when it enters street traffic with other cars, therefore the pilot project that we have implemented on ‘Dritan Hoxha’ and ‘ Durrës Street’ will be replicated along the ‘Ring Road’. This first phase includes some interventions. It is part of a study we have done with the German government, GIZ and KfW, but before we buy the new buses, we will build the infrastructure”, said Veliaj.
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