Since 1998, Bogotá, Colombia has built more than 300 kilometers of protected bikeways. Streetfilms recently had the chance to explore the city's bike network with the man responsible for building it, former mayor Enrique Peñalosa.
"When we build very high quality bicycle infrastructure, besides protecting cyclists, it shows that a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally as important to one in a $30,000 car," said Peñalosa. And as mayor, he walked the walk, extending the network of protected bikeways to every community.
"He spent all of the money that he had developing public space for pedestrians and bicycles," said Carlos Felipe Pardo from SlowResearch.org. "If you go to other places, you have people in the mud walking but the cars on a perfect road and here it is the opposite."
Now the investment in cycling infrastructure is paying off. After starting off with hardly any bike commuters, Bogota is pushing a five percent bike commute mode-share.
<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">[music]</font> <br></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Enrique Penalosa:</i>
[00:07] We have two worlds. One is for ciclovia which is when
we close the streets for cars every Sunday, 100 or so kilometres, and
then we get like a million people out riding bicycles. But then
this permanent ciclovia, this permanent bikeways we call cicloruta,
make a difference from the Sunday ones. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Felipe Morales:</i>
[00:27] This is our cicloruta or in English, cycle paths, exclusive
lanes for the transit for bicycles in the city. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Carlos Felipe Pardo:</i>
[00:37] It is a true network of cycling and it’s a true network of
high quality bicycle infrastructure. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Guillermo Dietrich:</i>
[00:44] It’s amazing the quantity of ciclorutas that here in Bogotá
I think that there are 350 kilometres. We are working in this
direction [unintelligible] also and I think that this is the direction
that we have in the cities to improve the public transportation, to
improve the quality of the infrastructure.</font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Enrique Penalosa:</i>
[01:03] This is Juana Maria Greenway, it connects some of the wealthiest
areas of the city to some extremely poor areas. And then people
use it for transport. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Bram Van Ooijen:</i>
[01:14]: The great thing about Bogota’s bicycle routes and greenways
is that it’s not only a cycle path, it’s not only a sidewalk, but
it’s everything around it as well. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Enrique Penalosa:</i>
[01:22] People used to be ashamed using a bicycle because that was a
sign of being the poorest of the poor. When we build very high
quality bicycle infrastructure, besides protecting cyclists, this is
a powerful symbol that shows a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally important
to one on a $30,000 car. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Carlos Felipe Pardo:</i>
[01:43] I think the infrastructure empowered people. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Andres Felipe Vergara: </i>
[01:46] I cycle all the time because the time, it’s faster, because
the economy, you have to spend money in gasoline or parking the car
and because I am autonomous, I can go when and where I want and that’s
why I have my, the group, Ciclopaseo de los Miercoles that promotes
the use of bicycles and that’s a way to teach everybody how to use
the bicycle in the city. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Carlos Felipe Pardo:</i>
[02:13] There are basically two types of cycle ways. One is on
the sidewalk. It’s beside the pedestrians and space was built
additional to what was already available for pedestrians. The
other is the one that we have here where I’m standing and it is one
in the median. There is also for example the Alameda which we
are today. It’s basically a space only for non motor transit,
so you only have bicycles or people walking on that. And what
I think is most useful to see in the metro [unintelligible] is that
he spent all the money that he had in developing public space for pedestrians
and for bicyclists. He spent no money in cars. He didn’t
put anything there. If you go to other places you will see that
you have people in the mud walking, but then cars in a perfect road
and here is the opposite of what you see everyday in every other city
that hasn’t solved its transport problem. </font></p>
<p> <br></p>
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<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><i>Enrique Penalosa:</i>
[03:11] When we arrived at City Hall nobody used bicycles, like maybe
0.1% of the people used bicycles. Now we have about 5% of the
people using bicycles everyday to go to work. Still very small,
but it’s already 350,000 people. </font> <br></p>
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