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Futureal is the First Private Sector Company to Fund its Own Bicycle Rental Station
Budapest’s bicycle sharing network MOL BUBI just received a welcome new addition in the heart of Corvin Promenade. This is the first docking station realized entirely with private capital, funded by the company responsible for the complete renewal of this area of the 8th District, Futureal Group.
This summer the public bike-sharing system of Budapest is expanding with 22 brand new docking stations, 616 docking points and 50 bikes. In this round of expansion, a new station was set up on Corvin Promenade – uniquely funded entirely with private capital, by Futureal Group – across the street from the Futó Street entrance of Corvin Plaza, right before the bakery store. This MOL BUBI station was also equipped with a terminal that allows occasional users to register and buy a ticket. The new docking station is expected to facilitate getting around easily and in an environment-friendly manner for those who live here and work here – around 8000 people altogether – and for visiting tourists alike.
Mr. János BERKI, Project Director at Futureal explained: “During the implementation of Corvin Promenade, creating a sustainable and livable residential and office environment was always a priority. As early as the offices’ planning stage we paid great attention to the development of bike storage solutions and the creation of a bicycle-friendly environment, and in all office buildings designed by Futureal we make sure that bicycle parking units and the adjacent locker and shower rooms are environmentally friendly. Another major feature of all our office developments is their accessibility by bicycle, which we have always focused on and will certainly keep doing so. Installing a station here for the bicycle sharing network – which is run successfully in many European cities and is quite popular here in Budapest as well – reflects the same mindset.” He also added: “Based on the latest data by the Hungarian Cyclists’ Club, over the past twenty years the number of cyclists in Budapest has grown eleven times, which is another reason we find it important to support sustainable means of transportation. In agreement with the goals of MOL and the BKK, leading the way among private sector companies we were the first to fund our own BUBI station.”
Since 2004, in the framework of the largest urban development project in East-Central Europe, this nearly 22 hectare area in the 8th District has undergone a complete infrastructural, architectural and environmental transformation, for which it became the very first Hungarian project to be awarded with the urban and real estate development sector’s most highly valued recognition, the Urban Land Institute’s ‘Global Award for Excellence’. Even the synopsis of the award points out how this project has created a healthy, low-carbon, human scale urban environment. U.S. news channel CNN has also turned its attention towards the award-winning Corvin Promenade, and in the recently aired footage they called it “one of the trendiest areas of the city”.
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