The bike in the cities is back. In fact, in countries like Holland or Denmark it returned almost half a century ago, mainly as a consequence of the oil crisis of the 70s, which spread a green awareness among the population and the possibility of freeing themselves from dependence on this fuel to always.
Today we find ourselves facing a global environmental crisis and forecasts that estimate that in the year 2050 about 70% of the world's population will live in urban environments. It is more necessary than ever to transform the current and outdated model of a city focused on satisfying the needs of the car to that of a city designed by and for people, with the bike as a priority means of urban transport.
And the number of cyclists does not stop growing. In Spain, according to data from the Bicycle Barometer 2015 carried out by the Network of Cities for Bicycles, half of the population acknowledges using the bicycle (in 2011 this figure was 40,3%) and 10% already use it daily (or almost).
To this rising trend must be added the large number of benefits directly related to its use. A Insights Social cost-benefit analysis carried out in 2015 by Lund University (Sweden) determined that “using a car is six times more expensive for society (and for each individual) than using a bicycle.”
That is why investment in measures aimed at promoting it is more than justified, since they produce high economic, social and environmental profitability, and generate great benefits in the short and long term. both for cyclists and for the rest of the population.Big Data
In order to carry out this transformation process, it is essential to have updated, rigorous and reliable data. Currently, through the interactions that people carry out daily through social networks and the interconnection of everyday objects with the Internet, we have a large number of real-time information packages available to us like never before: Big Data.
Betting on the development of technology applied to obtaining and interpreting this data will be fundamental for those responsible for the design of future cycling cities. Capturing in-depth information through different types of data analysis (travel times, incidents, identification of barriers...) will facilitate decision-making and provide a more precise response to the real needs of the population.
But this phenomenon is also interesting for bike users themselves, who will be able to have more and more access to relevant and timely information to move around the city safely and efficiently, allowing for shared use of this data with other bike users. this technology.
Behavior change
In the last edition of the international Velo-City congress, a research projects. carried out by the universities of Delft (Holland) and California (USA) which demonstrated that campaigns aimed at causing a change in individual behavior are twice as effective as those designed to modify attitude. This means that if we can get people on bikes, their attitude towards urban cycling will change:“A person does not start to ride a bike because he likes bikes, but rather he will start to like bikes because he rides a bike.”.
And there are still a large number of barriers that discourage people from getting on the bike. According to the Bike Barometer, the majority of people do not do it because they do not have one, they do not want to use it or they consider that they do not need it, while 9,4% point out fear and the feeling of danger as the main reason. .
Furthermore, the profile of bicycle users in Spain continues to be the same: men under 40 with higher education. Those responsible for bicycle mobility must be able to transform these barriers into opportunities, to facilitate maximize access to it and make urban cycling a experience attractive, comfortable and pleasant, working simultaneously at both the infrastructure level (routes and places) and the social level (people and promotional actions).
Routes and places
Jan Gehl, reference of the humanist urbanism, argues that “citizens end up adapting the behavior that the city offers them to adopt: open public spaces encourage interaction between neighbors and cities that enable spaces for walking and bicycle lanes end up having a healthier population. Therefore, if cities are planned where it is attractive to use a bicycle, people will use it".
The commitment to a 100% cyclable city must promote infrastructure consistent with urban reality, the re-balancing of public spaces and take into account social demand. The objective will be to turn the bike into the best alternative to the private car, making trips on it quick, continuous, comfortable and safe. In addition, mandatory bicycle mobility (access to work and school) and intermodality must be facilitated as much as possible, implementing measures that guarantee safe entry and parking with guarantees and under any circumstances.
In our country there are already real cases of success. In just 3 years (2006 to 2009), Seville managed to increase its cycling modal share from 1 to 6%. It achieved this by creating 120 kilometers of cycle lanes segregated from motorized traffic, activating public bike services and installing safe parking systems in stations, universities and workplaces. All these measures led the Andalusian capital to be in 2013 the fourth best city for cycling of the world, according to ranking prepared by the Danish consulting firm Copenhagenize.
People and promotional actions
In several European countries the schools They have driving and bicycle riding classes in their curriculum as a mandatory subject and they have places designated exclusively for parking bicycles. This causes the majority of students to travel to classes daily by bike and, apart from improving their physical condition and academic performance, develop a habit that will continue throughout their adult life.
Apart from schools, companies must also promote the use of bicycles among their workers. According to a recent study conducted by ISGlobal, people who commute by bike to work four days a week have up to 52% less risk of suffering from stress and significantly improve their productivity. It is logical that some companies have already begun to promote incentives for their employees to go to work by bike, as is the case of ingeteam, the first Spanish company to do so through economic incentives for its workers. The result: go from 5 to 40 people who commute by bike to work in just one year.
Cycling promotion must be complemented with communication campaigns and actions aimed at giving visibility, promoting the bicycle in cities and, above all, bringing the bicycle experience closer to all audiences: citizen participation events on bicycles, critical masses, promotions organized by public transport establishments and authorities, open doors of cycling clubs...
The challenge of the future
All these measures will allow us to be closer to that city model that is decisively committed to the bicycle as a vehicle for daily use and to an urban development model that has a positive impact on people's health and quality of life. And there is no more effective tool for transforming our cities and making them more livable than the bicycle.
However, this vision will only be achieved if there is actually a transfer of motorized trips to the bike. If, on the contrary, the increase in the cycling modal share does not produce this transfer, its effects will be considerably diminished, since it will not be possible to modify the pillars of an unsustainable urban mobility model like the current one.Author Carlos Martin Ruiz Senior Consultant at BIKEFRIENDLY CONSULTING SL
