“Carlos Moedas has just stated at the plenary meeting of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly: ‘When we started in this Executive we had 1,198 bicycles, at the moment we have 1,459! Who is it? increased by 50% Gira bikes? We were the ones who managed to do it”, he highlights in a tweet of March 12, stressing afterwards that “this is objectively lie“.
Is it confirmed that Moedas lied about this matter?
A statement released by EMEL – Lisbon Municipal Mobility and Parking Company on January 3, 2022 – two months after Carlos Moedas’ Executive took office -, about the “assessment of its contribution in 2021 to a safe and environmentally friendly city sustainable”, he realized that at the time they were in circulation “more than 900from a total fleet of 1,600 bicycles” from the Gira – Bicicletas de Lisboa network.
In another statement, on May 20, 2022, EMEL made a new assessment of the coverage of this network: “Currently, Lisbon has 123 Gira stations in operation, which represent a total of 2,373 docks and more than 1,173 bicycles of the Lisbon Shared Bicycle Network.”
Numbers that don’t differ much from those found in the “Ciclovias.pt” database – mentioned in the tweet to prove the supposed lie of Moedas -, where it is indicated that the Gira network currently has a total of 1,436 bicycles – and, on March 13, 2024, 1,154 bicycles were available for circulation, which corresponds to 80% of the fleet.
More precisely on October 18, 2021, when Moedas took office, the record in the “Ciclovias.pt” database indicates that the fleet had a total of 819 bicycles.
On October 25, 2023, in fact, EMEL also announced that it was “reinforcing the Gira network with 500 new electric bicycles until the end of the year”, while at the same time carrying out “the electrification of 400 conventional bicycles” – which will result in a total of more than 2,100 bicycles.
As reported by the local newspaper “Lisbon for People” in July 2023, “the contract with the Soltráfego/MEO consortium provides for the supply of bicycles and parts over a period of four years – or until the amount of 4.3 million euros“.
Even if the increase already achieved is not exactly 50%, the fact is that a contract was signed for the supply of more bicycles, “over a period of four years” (starting in 2023), which provides for the provision of a total superior than 2,100 bicycles. If it comes to fruition, it will be more than double the number of bicycles on the network at the beginning of Moedas’ mandate.
On the other hand, questioned by Polígrafo about this matter, an official source from Lisbon City Council explains that “in September 2021, EMEL had 1,198 active bicycles, of which 860 were electric. In January 2024, the number of active bicycles was of 1,459, of which 1,269 were electric“.
Based on these data, he concludes that “there is thus a growth in about 50% in electric bicycles – the most sought after – from 860 in September 2021 to 1,269 in January 2024, as the president of Lisbon City Council mentioned”.
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Polygraph Assessment:
Tags: Carlos Moedas lie increased number bicycles Gira network Lisbon
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