The Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) has launched a 'motosharing' service, shared electric motorcycles that will reach eight municipalities, connecting them to each other and overcoming the borders of the Catalan capital, unlike what happened with the metropolitan Bicing.
The new motosharing service has been regulated based on metropolitan licenses granted to different companies via public tender, as was also done in Barcelona years ago in response to the chaos experienced with the arrival of multiple operators that crowded the streets without coordination. With metropolitan motorcycles, the offer that existed until now in the city will be extended, responding to the logical demand to be able to go further, whether to go to work and university or to return home.
Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs will be the first to incorporate these shared electric motorcycles, with the forecast of having almost 10,000 vehicles by the end of the year. They will be parked in public spaces, complying with all municipal ordinances, which include areas with restrictions and others that are prohibited. "The ideal formula is for more municipalities to join so that the project makes sense and its success is guaranteed," says the Vice President of Mobility of the AMB, Carles Cordón.
The call promoted by the AMB has granted licenses to five operators, some of them already known in the Catalan capital. The companies, with about 2,000 motorcycles each, are Hori Rides, Yego Urban Mobility, Cooltra, Go Sharing, BV and Acciona Mobility. Starting Wednesday, the companies will have a long month to deploy their service. Each one will have its own app and its own rates, they will also come with motorcycles and helmets of different colors, although all of them will be included in the AMB Mobilitat and SMOU applications, and will carry the logo of the new metropolitan motosharing.
Licenses are valid for two years, extendable for a maximum period of two more years. Each company will have to pay an annual fee of 45 euros per vehicle for license management, as well as the corresponding fees for the use of public space. According to user response, the AMB, responsible for regulating the use and preservation of public space, will review the number of vehicles associated with each license. A minimum number of vehicles will be guaranteed in each municipality, to ensure service coverage and prevent areas from being unattended, as happened in the Catalan capital, where they started with 7,000 licenses and ended up with 2,000 because companies gave up when the numbers didn't work out for them.