Muévete en Bici
Muévete en Bici CDMX logo with bicycle silhouette
Bicyclists on road in front of landmark victory column
Sunday bike ride on Paseo de la Reforma near the Angel of Independence roundabout
StatusOngoing
GenreOpen-streets event
FrequencyWeekly
Location(s)Mexico City
CountryMexico
Years active16
InauguratedMay 13, 2007 (2007-05-13)
WebsiteOfficial website

Muévete en Bici (Move by Bike, Get On Your Bike,[1] or Move on Bikes[2] in English) is an active mobility program in Mexico City. More than 20 million people annually participate in the open-streets events, with between 20,000[3] and 80,000[4] people participating weekly as public thoroughfares are closed to motor vehicles and therefore opened to all other travelers.[5][6] Muévete currently uses 55 kilometres (34 mi)[2] of roads through the center of the city.[7] The program has become a popular way for tourists to take in the historic sites[8] of Mexico City along Paseo de la Reforma.[9]

Muévete is an example of a ciclorecreovía (or ciclovía recreativa),[10] a temporary weekend or weeknight recreational bike path that is an intermediate step toward a comprehensive bicycle infrastructure in the Americas.[11] The program is run by the Secretary of the Environment of the Federal District, created with the aim of promoting sustainable mobility (in general, the use of bicycles) and, therefore, improving air quality in Mexico City.[4]

The primary program is Paseo Dominical (Sunday roads) the first three Sundays of the month from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.[8] Paseo de la Reforma is closed to car traffic with the purpose of allowing cyclists, skaters and pedestrians to move freely.[1] Paseo Dominical occurs about 37 times a year.[3] Ciclotón Familiar is the fourth Sunday of the month, same hours, with many more road closures as well as additional support infrastructure for riders.[8][12] Night rides on Saturday evenings from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. are called Paseo Nocturna.[8]

The Ecobici system allows those without bikes to participate. The Environmental Secretariat also has bicycle loans.[13][14]

History

The first edition of Muévete en Bici was held on Sunday, May 13, 2007, as part of a push to make "change society so that the bicycle becomes a central element in the new plans for urban transportation, because it is clean, fast and enjoyable."[15] Circa 2008, travel by bicycle had accounted for only 0.7 percent of trips by all Mexico City travel modes, and an average of 30 cyclists were killed annually by cars or trucks.[15]

This first edition had a route of approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), running from Paseo de la Reforma from Lieja to Zócalo.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard created Muévete en Bici as part of a larger livability-sustainability initiative that included creating sandy "urban beaches" at public pools, outdoor movie screenings, increased traffic regulation, public security cameras, and a requirement that city workers commute by bicycle a least once a month.[16] (Mayor Ebrard also biked to work, in solidarity.[4]) During the pro-cycling Ebrard administration, bicycles were also permitted on mass transit (buses, subway cars) for the first time.[15]

Sunday bikes in Parque Tezozómoc

The route has been extended multiple times throughout its history, and now includes Reforma from Chapultepec Park, to the area of La Villa and several other streets south through the neighborhoods of Colonia Roma, La Condesa, and Colonia del Valle.[17][18][19]

In addition to the rides, Muévete en Bici carries out recreational and cultural activities with environmental education workshops, games, physical and sports activities, as well as the bike school.[20] Along with bike-share program EcoBici, "Muévete en Bici [and] bike training programmes started in 2009 to teach a new generation not only how to cycle safely, but also that cycling is an effective, safe and low-cost means of transport, as well as a recreational activity. These programmes provided residents with a safe space in which to practise cycling, and also the opportunity to see what their city would be like without cars."[21]

The program is jointly managed and funded by the municipal secretariats of environment, civic engagement, culture, and tourism, along with the Institute of the Youth, the Mexico City Police Department, and a roster of private commercial sponsors.[12]

EcoBici rack on Avenida Álvaro Obregón

Recognition, influence and criticism

Public health researchers found the Muévete en Bici program added "an extra 71 min/week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to more than 20,000 users."[2] The United Nations has noted that the program, in addition to other programs and Ecobici bike rentals, have led to a significant increase in women using bikes for transportation in Mexico.[22] In 2008, Muévete en Bici won the Pan-American Health Organisation's "Active Cities, Healthy Cities" award.[15]

Organizers of DominGo! a Sunday open-streets event in Hartford, Connecticut, say they were inspired by Muévete en Bici and CicLAvia in Los Angeles.[23] (Domingo is the Spanish word for Sunday.)

Mexico City is a member of the Red de Ciclovías Recreativas de las Américas (Recreational Cycle Routes of the Americas Network) along with Bogotá (Ciclovía),[3] Chacao, Chicago, Guadalajara (Vía RecreActiva), Guatemala City, Medellín, Quito (Ciclopaseo), Rio de Janeiro, San Borja and Santiago (CicloRecreoVía),[3] et al.[12]

Paseo Dominical in downtown Mexico City

One scholar has challenged the Muévete en Bici system as "limited by a consensus that maintained existing power inequalities, favored expert-driven design targeting middle-class users, and opted for rapid project implementation over long-term institutional re-design and capacity-building" and suggested that Mexico City's innovation have failed to implement solutions for the bicycle-dependent residents of low-income neighborhoods.[24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Kemp, Roger L.; Stephani, Carl J. (2015-01-28). Urban Transportation Innovations Worldwide: A Handbook of Best Practices Outside the United States. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1827-2.
  2. 1 2 3 Medina, Catalina; Romero-Martinez, Martin; Bautista-Arredondo, Sergio; Barquera, Simón; Janssen, Ian (2019-05-14). "Move on Bikes Program: A Community-Based Physical Activity Strategy in Mexico City". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16 (10): 1685. doi:10.3390/ijerph16101685. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 6572080. PMID 31091737.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Mejia-Arbelaez, Carlos; Sarmiento, Olga L.; Mora Vega, Rodrigo; Flores Castillo, Mónica; Truffello, Ricardo; Martínez, Lina; Medina, Catalina; Guaje, Oscar; Pinzón Ortiz, José David; Useche, Andres F; Rojas-Rueda, David; Delclòs-Alió, Xavier (2021-01-14). "Social Inclusion and Physical Activity in Ciclovía Recreativa Programs in Latin America". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18 (2): 655. doi:10.3390/ijerph18020655. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 7828741. PMID 33466637.
  4. 1 2 3 Booth, William (2012-04-11). "Car-saturated Mexico City lets bicycle riders rule the roads on Sunday mornings". Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  5. ↑ Secretaría de Movilidad de la CDMX. "Muévete en Bici". Secretaría de Movilidad de la CDMX (in Mexican Spanish).
  6. ↑ Barclay, Eliza (October 9, 2016). "Bogotá closes its roads every Sunday. Now everyone wants to do it". Vox.
  7. ↑ Van Mead, Nick (November 11, 2015). "Viva la revolución: Mexico City cyclists fight for the right to ride in safety". The Guardian.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Meade, Julie (2018-10-16). Moon Mexico City. Avalon Publishing. ISBN 978-1-64049-285-1.
  9. ↑ Kahn, Carrie (2021-08-13). "Taking in Mexico City's History by Canoe and Bike". National Public Radio (NPR).
  10. ↑ Pan American Health Organization's Regional Council on Healthy Eating and Active Living and Non-Communicable Disease Unit; La Vía RecreActiva of Guadalajara; Schools of Medicine and Engineering of the University of the Andes, Bogotá Colombia; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Ciclovía of Bogotá (2009). Ciclovía Recreativa Implementation and Advocacy Manual (PDF). Universidad de los Andes (Report) (English ed.).
  11. ↑ Inter-American Development Bank; American University. Bicuidades 2013 (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). p. 25.
  12. 1 2 3 Best Practices: Sunday Bike Program (PDF) (Report). Vol. Policy Areas: Climate Change, Transportation, Environment. NYC Global Innovation Exchange Program (nyc.gov). 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  13. ↑ "Get to know Ecobici - Ecobici". July 28, 2022.
  14. ↑ Schroeder, Lisa (2010-03-23). "Mexico City makes way for bicycles". Christian Science Monitor (in Spanish).
  15. 1 2 3 4 Cevallos, Diego (2008-11-11). "Cyclists in the Mexican Capital Pedal Nude Once a Year". Noticias Financieras. ProQuest 466863229 – via ProQuest.
  16. ↑ Watson, Julie (2007-07-29). "Mayor Tries to Transform Mexico City". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  17. ↑ Rosas, Ruth (March 11, 2022). "An update on Mexico City, an overlooked sustainable transportation innovator". StreetsBlog Chicago. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  18. ↑ Shepherd, Jeremy (June 14, 2019). "17k bike tour will celebrate bicycle month in Mexico City". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  19. ↑ Secretaría de Movilidad de la CDMX. "Muévete en Bici". Secretaría de Movilidad de la CDMX (in Spanish).
  20. ↑ Time Out México colaboradores [staff] (2021-04-13). "Muévete en bici". Time Out Ciudad de México (in Spanish).
  21. ↑ Torres, Arturo Balderas; Ortega, Andrea Zafra; Sudmant, Andrew; Gouldson, Andy (2021). Sustainable mobility for sustainable cities: Lessons from cycling schemes in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico (PDF) (Report). University of Leeds. London and Washington, D.C.: Coalition for Urban Transitions.
  22. ↑ "Women using EcoBici, Mexico City's bike sharing program – Mexico". unfccc.int. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  23. ↑ Glazer, Ted (2022-07-22). "The car-free DominoGO! opens the streets again Sunday for a day of safe traveling in Hartford". Hartford Courant.
  24. ↑ Sosa López, Oscar (May 2021). "BICYCLE POLICY IN MEXICO CITY : Urban Experiments and Differentiated Citizenship". International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 45 (3): 477–497. doi:10.1111/1468-2427.12992. ISSN 0309-1317. S2CID 236627074 – via Wiley.

Further reading

Mexican press coverage

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