affluent neighborhoods, it may very well be true. Since the program’s inception some 32,000 people have become members making 9000 daily trips.
Solares also makes the point that you have to start somewhere, and that based on studies of some of the most bicycle friendly cities in the world including Portland and Copenhagen also says that you have to work your way out from the center. She says there are programs in place to help the different outlying municipalities of Mexico City implement traffic calming zones, and one southern neighborhood, Coyoacan, has published maps recommending bicycle routes. As we all know one thing that makes biking safer is more bikes, as with more cyclists comes more visibility and awareness. Solares adds, “We have done baseline measurement and found that with the implementation of the bicycle share program we have seen a 50% increase in personal bikes.” As EcoBici is part of a more comprehensive bicycle strategy it is also connected with the closing of Reforma, one of the largest central roads in the city to cars from 8 am to 2 pm on Sundays. This program inspired by the popular Ciclovía program of Bogota, Colombia, allows people to ride their bikes in the city center traffic free. The city has also released a comprehensive guide to maintaining, riding and repairing your bike that you can view on their website. “All the initiatives reinforce each other. The best way to start a bicycle culture is when you have a critical mass, to not disperse the projects, but instead to concentrate them.”
Other cities in Latin America are looking north to Mexico as an inspiration for bicycle infrastructure. Mexico City hopes that will all these initiatives their cycling percentage will increase from 1% to 5% and I hope that the next time I return to D.F. I’ll shed my cold feet and traverse more of the grand Monstruo on two wheels.
About the Author
Andalusia Knoll is a Brooklyn based multimedia journalist, popular educator, and bicycle obsessee. She works as a Community Organizer with the Immigrant Defense Network, Families for Freedom and has reported for various news outlets including Democracy Now!, Free Speech Radio News, and TeleSUR. When she’s not organizing, producing or teaching radio you can catch her riding her bike on the streets of NYC.