Name of GP initiative Number of GP initiative Region / Country Author / Email Institution Bike-Sharing Initiative MN3 Tivat/Montenegro Filippo Montalbetti/filippo.montalbetti@unvienna.org Djordjije Vulikic/djordjije.vulikic@mrt.gov.me, UNEP Vienna General description: Kotor Bay has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site on the basis of its natural beauties and historical monuments. However, the area s infrastructure poses serious problems. The increasing volume of tourist traffic coupled with the lack of a long-term vision for the development of the transport system has resulted in an unacceptable level of pressure. As stated in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development, Montenegro is strongly committed to achieving sustainable growth and developing healthy and liveable areas throughout its territory. This goal can be reached by reducing car dependency; supporting the development of alternative modes of transport; designing and developing a sustainable mobility system for the area based on limiting the use of private cars; and improving tourist services. Such interventions will enhance the accessibility of local tourist resources and natural beauties. With this goal in mind, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, with the technical support of Italian experts and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, developed a pilot project for the sustainable and environmentally friendly enhancement of Tivat municipality s mobility system and public spaces, in order to protect both the natural environment and the area s cultural and historical assets. This ambitious aim can be achieved by introducing a multimodal integrated transportation system. Another key aspect of the project is the redesign of the waterfront, which, from the north to the south of Tivat, will be transformed into a unique tourist attraction through the development and installation of a soft mobility system based on bike sharing and pedestrian paths. This would be coupled with the refurbishment and reorganisation of the urban landscape to boost the attractiveness of the entire promenade, improve existing leisure facilities, and expand green areas. Year of implementation: 2012 Time horizon of initiative/map/etc.: Steps in creating the initiative/roadmap/strategy: The bike-sharing system has been configured on the basis of the following activities: An assessment of the spatial distribution of public bicycle routes and stations It is crucial to tailor the system to match expected demand, since surplus or insufficient capacities can be expensive to correct. Stations were therefore distributed in the most visible and accessible locations along the promenade where both tourist and residents can easily pick up or drop off the bikes. The definition of system size This makes it possible to subsequently define the appropriate number of bicycles to be used in the system. The definition of system operation type Bicycle-sharing systems can be divided into two broad categories: manual and automated. In a manual system, the hiring and returning of bicycles is supervised. In an automated system, bicycles are either locked to special electronically controlled racks or are equipped with an electronically controlled lock of their own. Automated 1
systems are dependent on information technology for the user interface, system control and monitoring. Bike and station design System stations feature two basic components: a service terminal and a set of bicycle locking stands. The service terminal provides a user interface for performing basic financial transactions (membership subscriptions), and for obtaining information about how to use the system and about the availability of bicycles and docking spaces at other stations. Design considerations for public bicycles are ease of use, adaptability to users of different sizes, mechanical reliability, resistance to vandalism, theft prevention, and distinctive visual appearance. Based on these considerations, the system to be installed on the Tivat promenade comprises: Six stations at strategic points along the promenade in the city centre, each station equipped with an information panel providing details about rules for use, the location of other stations, and the system s communication equipment (GPRS module). 36 bikes with a distinctive visual appearance, all of them easy to use, easy to adapt to users of different sizes, mechanically reliable, resistant to vandalism and fitted with a theft prevention system and auxiliary cable locks for securing bicycles temporarily between stations. A locking system connected to a service terminal for each station to be used with an electronic membership card. Targets and target determination: Tivat is the administrative centre of Tivat municipality, which has a population of 14,031. It is located in the central part of Kotor Bay, south of Mount Vrmac, and is an area of extraordinary natural beauty. Besides being a popular tourist resort, Tivat is becoming an important nautical tourism centre in the southern Adriatic. The existing naval shipyard and former military base were recently purchased by private investors and transformed into a marina for luxury yachts. In the vicinity of Tivat, adjacent to Tivat Airport, there are plans for the construction of golf courses, which will contribute to the further shaping of Tivat as a luxury resort. Since the sustainable growth and development of healthy and liveable areas depends in part on reducing car dependency and supporting the further development of alternative modes of transportation, it is important to design a sustainable mobility system for the area aimed at improving the possibility to enjoy the local tourist resources and natural beauties, limiting the use of private cars and enhancing tourist services. Urban planners must take into consideration how future growth will affect traffic flow and must try to eliminate potential hotspots before they become a significant problem. The population of Tivat municipality rose from 11,186 in 1991 to 13,630 in 2003 (+ 21.8 percent). In the same period, the number of households rose from 3,516 to 4,502 (+ 28 percent) and the total number of dwellings rose from 3,711 in 1991 to 7,167 in 2003 (+ 93.1 percent). Tivat s last detailed urban plan (DUP) was adopted in 2007 (Official Gazette of Republic of Montenegro, Municipal Regulation No. 12/07). The DUP covers central Tivat, which includes the highest concentration of public facilities in an area of about 32 ha, where the plan is to accommodate 4,986 residents. Housing is located mainly in collective residential buildings with commercial spaces on the ground floor. One option for new housing is to add roof spaces to existing residential blocks. The capacity of the urban environment to encourage, facilitate and sustain pedestrian access is a key performance indicator for vital 2
and competitive towns. Accessibility remains a key issue in terms of healthy town centres. In this context, it should be noted that bicycle use has played a traditional role and transport planners throughout the world are increasingly recognising the bicycle as a viable mode of transportation. In fact, while bicycles are still used primarily for recreational purposes, the number of people using bicycles for commuting and other trips is rising and people throughout the world are recognising the energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, health benefits and environmental advantages of cycling. Success factors/barriers A public bicycle system is a fleet of bicycles that can be picked up and dropped off at numerous points across an urban area. The bicycles are available to the general public for short-term use for free or for a small fee. The concept has been widely embraced in Europe over the last decade and is generating considerable interest in North America. Recent European experiences suggest that public bicycle systems can act as a door opener for increased bicycle use. Bike sharing offers rapid and flexible mobility for short trips, and as such it can be an attractive alternative to public transport and the private car. For longer distances, it can complement public transportation, creating opportunities for intermodality. Given that public bicycle schemes can help to convert motorised trips to non-motorised trips and, ultimately, to increase the modal share of cycling, they can be regarded as a strategy for reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. They can also be regarded as a means to encourage physical activity among the local population and are therefore consistent with efforts to improve public health. This comprehensive cooperation project for sustainable mobility in the coastal areas of Montenegro thus aims to integrate the present transportation offer in the area with the development of a more efficient and environmentally friendly mobility solution that conserves and improves the environment and local communities. Taking into account the pillars of sustainable development, project success factors include: strengthening bike-based tourism, leading to increased retail sales (restaurants, accommodation suppliers and stores), job preservation and creation, and, in the case of dedicated bike paths or trails, the enhancement of nearby property values; improving traffic conditions by reducing congestion and improving the safety of road infrastructure; providing direct environmental benefits connected with improved air quality and energy savings; and improving quality of life by boosting opportunities for cycling and connectivity within communities. A number of barriers were ecountered: currently only six bikes are operational due to maintenance problems and vandalism. Fifteen bikes were repaired using parts from broken bicycles, as no parts are available in Montenegro. The Italian company BicinCitta, the supplier of the equipment, has been approached by Tivat municipality on several occasions, without success. 3
Responsibility for application: The project is managed and supported by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, the municipality of Tivat and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea. The initiative was developed by D Apollonia Engineering, DFS Engineering and BicinCitta. Implementation costs: The capital investments required for the implementation and start-up of the system were mainly related to: the procurement of system components including tools and instruments, clamps, bikes, electronic cards, padlocks and accessories; the annual fee for web hosting and software management costs; the detailed design, including site surveys and drawings; bike station installation and testing; technical assistance for the first year, comprising a six-monthly on-site check; and equipment delivery costs. The comprehensive capital investments amounted to approximately EUR 115,000. The capital investment costs were covered by the donation from the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea. The main operational costs are related to: system management; customer services; user registration, involving local commercial activities, markets, restaurants, hotels and the municipality; equipment maintenance and the even distribution of bikes between stations, including the checking of returned bikes, checking the correct functioning of data transmission, the checking of the locking equipment 4
etc. Based on the experience of similar systems in other countries, the operational and maintenance costs vary between EUR 30,000 and 60,000 per year, mainly depending on the number of staff employed. These costs are covered by the project partners. The optimal system management structure and the number of employees required will be defined in the next stage of the design phase in close cooperation with municipality representatives. These considerations will also make it possible to determine the appropriate fee payable by users in order to cover the operational costs and make the system fully efficient. Economic effects (GDP, employment, etc.): It is anticipated that significant human and capital resources will be needed to keep the system running. Staff are required to: deal with subscriptions, customer interface, general information provision and system management; redistribute bicycles, maintain the stations and carry out minor bicycle repairs; undertake major bicycle repairs in the workshop; manage the storage of spare parts, spare bicycles and other equipment; and operate a call centre for subscription management and customer assistance. Links: http://www.biketivat.com/css/portal_15/pages/default.aspx http://www.cdm.me/drustvo/crna-gora/tivat-u-bike-sharing-sistemu-u-funkciji-samo-15-bicikala This document was developed in the framework of the LOCSEE project. 5