The bicycle occupies a relevant place in the mobility plans of the region's major cities due to its multiple benefits. It is a commitment that finds support both in governments and in a much more aware and participatory citizenry.
One of the big conversations of recent times revolves around the environmental crisis and the key factors to counteract it, one of them being, of course, mobility. In this sense, the commitment to the bicycle as a means of transport is a strategy that has gained great relevance within and outside the region.
This vehicle is a fundamental component of urban development plans around the world. Currently, countries such as Holland, Belgium, Germany and Denmark are benchmarks for their cycle-inclusive policies, which reaffirms that it is possible to think of more sustainable ways of getting around.
In the case of Latin America, Bogotá leads this revolution on two wheels. According to the study Cycle-inclusion in Latin America According to a study conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank (BIT), the Colombian capital has the best infrastructure in the entire region with nearly 550 kilometers of bicycle paths, followed by Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. In addition, the Colombian capital is ranked 12th in the ranking of the 20 cities with the best conditions for cycling, the first non-European city, according to the Danish organization. Copenhagenize.
“Almost one million people who commute by bike every day make Bogotá one of the cities with the most bicycle users in the world. This shows other megacities that they can also change,” said Morten Kabell, manager of Copenhagenize.
Other cities in the region are also doing well. Rosario, Argentina, already has 135 kilometers of exclusive bicycle paths, and with temporary cycle paths, the number has increased to 173. This urban mobility strategy has been in place since 2008, making it possible to reduce traffic accidents involving cyclists by 65% and making it the Argentine city with the highest number of kilometers for cyclists per inhabitant.
Santiago de Chile has 418 kilometers of exclusive lanes for cyclists, three times the current length of the Santiago Metro! This is thanks to the demands of citizens who have been asking for years that the use of bicycles be taken into account in urban planning.
In Mexico City, the “Bicycle Mobility Plan for Mexico City” was created 10 years ago, and although the numbers are not what they expected (they went from 98 thousand daily trips a decade ago to just over 300 thousand today), they are convinced that it is necessary to support the use of the bicycle as a clean and environmentally friendly means of transport.
“Promoting the use of bicycles as a means of transport entails enormous cultural challenges, beyond the cycling road infrastructure and the use of bicycles themselves, since it requires new cultural patterns and changes in attitudes regarding the status symbol that car use represents for the majority of citizens,” It is recorded in the official document of the “Bicycle mobility strategy”.
In conclusion, the outlook is encouraging in the region. Although the numbers are still far from the statistics on daily trips and infrastructure that some European countries manage, it is encouraging that two key factors are maintained in Latin America that are necessary for positive progress in the use of bicycles: the will of the new political leaders and a more conscious, organized and participative citizenry that has the will to actively contribute to the development of their territories.
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