Preservation of physical obsta-
cles like city light posts within the bike paths that later had to be relo- cated or the complete conversion of walkways to bike paths were also shotcomings of the newly built bicy- cle facilities in Sarajevo. In spite of these problems, its construction represented a big push toward the development of urban cycling in Sarajevo and showed the willingness of the local government to invest public money in this mode of trans- portation. However, the topic needs to be addressed more profession- ally, transparently and closely in the future phases with necessary partic- ipation of all relevant stakeholders because the length and construc- tion of unconnected sections of bike paths in not enough to encourage urban cycling in the city.
BIKE-SHARE SYSTEM – ANOTHER GIANT STEP FORWARD Final proof that urban cycling has a bright future in Sarajevo occured in June 2016 when the biggest break- through in the development of the bicycle commute as a subsystem of public transport in Sarajevo hap- pened - the introduction of a public bike-share system, Nextbike. Unlike other European cities, the system is financed entirely by private funds. A group of young entrepreneurs, employed in one Sarajevo’s top mar- keting agencies, decided to offer a bike-share service to the citizens. Although the basin relief of Sarajevo and the complicated and long proce- dures for acquiring permits for avail- able public spaces in the city were limiting factors for the rapid devel- opment of Nextbike, this public bike- share system has become a great success. Today it operates at seven stations
at attractive locations and has a fleet of 50 bikes. In the first five months of operation, the system counted nearly 4,000 registered users, of which 1300 actively use Nextbike service. They
as a fully fledged mode of transpor- tation in the city. One solution to the present situa-
Bike shelters installed in Bihac this year
rented bikes 17,000 times and rode them more than 40,000 km, with each bike being rented about 2.4 times per day. According to all relevant indica- tors of operation, Sarajevo’s public bike-share system is keeping pace with previously implemented similar public bike share schemes in other capitals of the region. The fact that the most rentals take
place during the morning and after- noon peak hours indicates that the scheme has established itself as a sub-system of the city’s public trans- port network and shows the clear need to expand the network of sta- tions to attractive locations in the city to keep bikes available to as many citizens as possible.
A LOOK TO THE NEAR FUTURE The trend of urban commuters riding bikes as transportation of choice will surely grow in future years - it will grow even without any further devel- opment of the cycle path network in the city. This trend offers many advantages to the city and its people. Even though the number of cyclists on the city road network is still not big enough to cause serious traf- fic issues, it is reasonable to expect that problems of insufficient bicycle infrastructure with some noticeable technical shortcomings may hinder the establishment of urban cycling
tion and a way for the future can be the devising of a proper strategy that will include a set of actions. First, the process of planning, designing and building of bicycle facilities has to be meaningful and professionally organized to provide proper capac- ity in proper areas and locations in the city. New bicycle facilities must not be built randomly and without considering the needs of Sarajevo’s cyclist. There is a need for thorough analysis, surveys and traffic sur- vey as it was previously practiced. Designers have to respect positive engineering solutions and success- ful examples from other countries, not just Bosnian guidelines for bicy- cle facility design. In the case of Sarajevo, there are
established civil society organizations and pofessionals that have already gained experience in the planning of bicycle facilities, for which they have received recognition by the public. It is worth nothing that more than 3,000 cyclists joined the Giro di Sarajevo protest ride this year. Additionally, it is important to establish public- private partnerships in future devel- opment of bike-share schemes and to develop it in accordance with the traffic demandof Sarajevo’s citizens. Finally, coordinated and professional work will result in a mutual goal of enhancing the bicycle commute experience and developing it in a fully organized and sustainable transpor- tation sub-system that will improve overall transportation and livability in Sarajevo.
FYI
Damir Margeta is infrastructure manager of Giro di Sarajevo
Damir.margeta@
gmail.com Girodisarajevo.ba
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Environment and Health in Transport
SARAJEVO
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