Ecovolis is a bike-sharing system based in Albania’s capital, Tirana. Initiated over two years ago, this program has revolutionized the city’s transportation and circulation scheme. There was a very real necessity to create a solution to the congestion and pollution in the car-filled streets of Tirana, and it is largely due to the donations of bicycles and the great work done by Ecovolis’s strongest partner, Pedals for Progress, that made the program take hold.

Since the first communication with P4P and its president, David Schweidenback, 1,465 bicycles have landed in Albania and they are all currently circulating in its streets. For a country of 3 million people, this is a great first step. Consider the fact that, after a fifty-year communist regime that forbade the personal use of automobiles, the last 20 years saw a surge in ownership of cars. The unfortunate result of this new age of consumption was that Albania became one of the most polluted countries in Europe.

As part of PASS (Programii Alternativave Sociale Stimuluese, Social Stimulating Alternative Programme), which promotes and support environmentally friendly actions, Ecovolis immediately embraced the idea of using recycled bicycles for Tirana’s bike-sharing system rather than purchasing new and potentially costly or unreliable alternatives. This system was presented to its citizens with a strong ecologic and recycling message: “Put used bicycles into good use.” People needed to be conscious of the need to reduce the pollution created by the multitude of cars that circulated in the city streets. P4P was the model we followed.

A great part of the bicycles were transformed and painted in order to become identical and be part of the bike-sharing system. However, hundreds of them were also donated to children’s organizations such as Terre des Hommes or orphanages. American efforts and involvement have created smiles on many Albanian children’s faces. Being so grateful to David and P4P, Ecovolis made a point to notify the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, who couldn’t but feel proud of the generosity and eco-friendly behavior of the people they represent here in Albania.

All in all, the shipments of those bicycles now seen in the streets of Tirana and Durrës and the sewing machines now used by associations of women in need offer a strong and concrete message to the Albanian people: Recycling and cooperating for good causes are what bring about solutions and unite people of distant nations.

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

An extremely satisfying day,  Today P4P loaded 523 bikes in our second shipment ever for Albania, formerly the worlds most isolated country.   This shipment of used bikes and almost as importantly a vast array of parts and accessories donated by Easton Bell Sports will serve to supplement the Albanian Public Bike Service which was initiated with the first shipment last year.  P4P bikes are painted bright red and are available to the general public all around Tirane.  This program has been tried before, most notably in Amsterdam, and the key for success has always been that someone is responsible for the maintenance of the bicycles.  Our partner, Programi I Alternativav Sociale Stimuluese (PASS)  has set up 4 separate stations, each employing 2  employees serving as Customer Service to keep the bikes in good repair.

Also included in the shipment is about 35 new children’s helmets donated by Kent Bicycle Company.  PASS has donated the smaller children’s bicycles in the first shipment to the Roma Children’s Schools, where the very young are taught to ride and learn to enjoy biking as part of the curriculum.  They will now be able to do that more safely due to the generosity of Kent Bicycle Company.

P4P is very pleased that we have been able to continue to support PASS with this second shipment which, as with the first shipment last year, could not have been possible without the financial assistance of the Soros Foundation, which generously contributed to the transportation costs.

For years P4P focused primarily on Central America and Africa, yet there is the same need in many other places around the world.  We are maintaining our programs there but have broadened our reach by adding Eastern European programs and most recently Vietnam.  For P4P, need is sufficient to request our assistance, we have long had a policy of helping in many areas around the world, not just one country or region.

We are so pleased to announce this shipment, as the second shipment to a program is the true mark of success and we hope to continue to sending bikes to PASS for many years to come…of course, with your help and donations.  I hope all of you who have aided P4P in collecting these bikes are as proud as we are of the milestone of a 2nd shipment of aid directly to the Roma people from concerned Americans

by Nina Këruti
Summer 2011 InGear

This spring we are beginning shipments with PASS/Albania #2. We are so pleased for the success of the program in Tirana. PASS received one container of bikes from Pedals for Progress in July 2010. PASS had two goals for the bikes:

• Creation of job opportunities for Roma Families through bike service.
• Establishment of the first public bike service in Tirana.

The first container held 463 used bikes, 242 bundled bicycle parts, and 30 used sewing machines. Since the container arrived in Tirana last July, PASS has achieved the following:

• 150 bikes were sold to the public at modest cost for operational income.
• 100 bikes were donated to Roma Children schools for social activities developed under the project.
• Public Bike Service has adopted 70 bicycles for general public use. The old Amsterdam Yellow Bike Project model was always effective when someone was responsible for maintenance.
• 50 bicycles are frequently used for bike tours.
• There are 30 bicycles that are designated for bike messengers.

In Tirana, PASS opened four First Bike Services, which translates into the creation of 8 jobs with a range of 15–20 bikes per station. Another part of the project was the creation of bike services, which results in the employment of 4 youths working to maintain the bikes.

What is positive and what we have achieved through the use of bikes is creating a community and a bicycle movement in Tirana. Improvements have been done in the infrastructure and many activities are organized in raising awareness for the use of bikes.

Fall 2010 InGear

PASS (Programii Alternativave Sociale Stimuluese, Social Stimulating Alternative Programme), located in the Albanian capital city Tirana, was established in 2002 with the goal of encouraging community action and raising public awareness of local social and environmental issues. Some of their activities include operating the Welcoming Center for Families in Need, involving local residents in resolving community problems through their Volunteer Action Movement, supporting the AKSES Program to foster the education and employment of rural youth, and facilitating youth community engagement through the Civil Youth Project.

Albania is a small country, approximately the size of Maryland, on the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula. After the Second World War it was isolated from the rest of the world by a xenophobic, Stalinist government. For decades Albanians, mostly Muslim, experienced purges, economic hardship and underdevelopment, political and civil repression, and the total ban on religious observance.

Its long isolation contributed to Albania’s status as one of the poorest nations in Europe. In 2008 its per capita income was less than $4000 a year and the official unemployment rate was over 12%. Remittances from Albanian workers abroad make up almost 10% of the country’s economy; with the recent crises with the global financial system and with the Euro, these remittances have fallen dramatically.

PASS works with the most marginalized populations of Albania, primarily rural dwellers and ethnic minorities. These are the people who suffered most under the Communist regime and the recent decline in remittances, and who were mostly ignored by the liberalization of the past two decades. The rate of unemployment and lack of education among this population is very high.

With help from Pedals for Progress, PASS plans to establish a Tirana Community Bicycle program. Not only will this provide jobs for workers maintaining and managing the community bicycles, but the bikes themselves will help reduce the social and economic isolation of suburban and rural communities by providing dedicated transportation from the margins of Tirana to the center. An additional effect of the program will be to raise awareness among citizens of the bicycle as a fun, healthy, and environmentally sound method of transportation.

PASS facebook page

Ecovolis bike-sharing program