- The town councils of A Coruña, Murcia, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Sant Cugat, Mataró, Seville and Barcelona win the 2023 Bikefriendly Awards at the gala held in Seville
- As a novelty, the 'Bicieconomía' category, which has recognized the work of two companies and a non-profit entity: Txita, Don Cicicleto and l'Henbici
- Bikefriendly Group and lThe Network of Cities for Bicycles, chaired by the AMB, promotes these awards to promote the daily use of bicycles in Spain
Seven Spanish cities rose this Thursday as winners of the 2023 Bikefriendly Awards at a gala held in Seville, within the framework of the III Urban Bicycle Meeting. The event took place at the Seville Tourist Reception Center and was directed by journalist Julio Muñoz, known as 'El Rancio Sevillano'.
The awards are jointly promoted by Bikefriendly Group and the Bicycle Cities Network (RCxB), currently chaired by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). They are held every two years and have as their objective recognize the efforts of public administrations that promote projects, initiatives or actions aimed at encourage and facilitate the daily use of bicycles.
A recognition of public administrations
“The Bicycle Cities Network and the city councils are contributing decisively to integrating the bicycle into the urban mobility of our cities. These Bikefriendly Awards and, above all, the initiatives and projects behind them are an example. We are moving forward firmly and decisively. We congratulate all the finalists and winners for their work and effort,” explained last night the President of the Bicycle Cities Network and vice president of Mobility, Transport and Sustainability of the AMB, Antoni Poveda.
Carlos Avellana, founding partner and representative of Bikefriendly Group, highlighted the level of applications received in the different categories and thanked the cities, councils and companies participating in this edition for their work and that work every day to facilitate and promote the daily bicycle trips. He also thanked the Bicycle Cities Network and the sponsor of this edition, Zicla, their unconditional support for these Bikefriendly Awards that help keep alive the motivation of public entities in their defense of the bike.
In this third edition, prizes were awarded around eight categories: institutional leadership, urban cycling infrastructure, interurban cycling infrastructure, parking infrastructure, education and promotion, innovation and acceleration.
As a novelty, in this 2023 edition an eighth category has been included, that of 'Bicieconomy', to recognize the work of companies and non-profit entities. Within this category, the jury awarded awards in three modalities: cycle logistics, products and solutions for cycling infrastructure; and promotion and training of bicycle mobility.
Winners of the 2023 Bikefriendly Awards
The Bikefriendly 2023 Awards have been awarded, in the following eight categories, to the following administrations and entities:
- LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT: Barcelona's town hall. For the increase and improvement of infrastructure, services, communication and data management for bicycle mobility.
The Valladolid City Council and the Pontevedra Provincial Council were also finalists in this category.
- URBAN CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE: Municipality of Mataro. For his project 'Mataró cycling ring'.
The town councils of Logroño, Murcia and Sant Just Desvern were also finalists in this category.
- INTERURBAN CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE: Sant Cugat del Vallès Town Hall. For its projects to connect the municipality with its relevant neighboring centers.
The Provincial Council of Pontevedra and the City Council of Sant Joan Despí were also finalists in this category.
- PARKING INFRASTRUCTURE: Ayto. Vitoria Gasteiz. For its project 'VGBiziz bicycle parking network'.
As finalists in this category, there was also the Santa Perpetua de Mogoda City Council.
- EDUCATION AND PROMOTION:Ayto. Murcia. For its project to train Biciescuela students.
The municipalities of Elx, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Vilagarcía de Arousa were also finalists in this category.
- INNOVATION: City Hall. Seville. For its pilot project to evaluate the implementation of a shared electric bike service in the city of Seville.
The Madrid City Council and the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council were also finalists in this category.
- ACCELERATION: Ayto. A Coruña. For his project 'En Bici'.
The town councils of Sant Cugat del Vallès and Valladolid were also finalists in this category.
- BIKEFRIENDLY BICIECONOMY AWARDS (with 3 subcategories)
- CYCLOLOGISTICS: Txita, from Donostia, for his career in promoting cyclologistics.
- PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS FOR CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE: Don Cicleto, the Madrid Urban Parking Network. For its product Bicihangar Rocket, a solution for the safe parking of bicycles and scooters in any type of space.
- PROMOTION AND TRAINING OF L’HENBICI BICYCLE MOBILITY: L'Henbici. For its 'Bellvitge community workshop' project to extend the use of bicycles on the streets of l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and generate a diverse cycling community.
III Urban Bicycle Meeting
The Bikefriendly Awards gala was held within the framework of the III Urban Bicycle Meeting, a conference organized by the RCxB and Bikefriendly that brought together a multitude of technicians and representatives from various entities in Seville and in which the interurban and metropolitan cycling connections, one of the great challenges in Spain to ensure that cycling between municipalities is safe, comfortable and fast.
