The car can
be our best friend or our worst enemy, it all depends on the traffic. We can
cover distances of 20 km in 20 minutes or less, but we can also cover 20 km in
2 hours or more. It all depends on the time and the day. The population is
growing as you read, the number of cars is raising, and the average car speed
is diminishing. According to information from ‘El Universal’, the average speed
of vehicles in 2007 was 17 km/h; showing a strong reduction from the average
speed in 1990 (38.5 km/h). If this
continues, in a couple years the average speed will be of a couple kilometers
per hour. The government has to promote other means of transportation and improve
the street conditions.
Yes we have
to use public transportation, but having such an inefficient program isn't worth
the risk of getting late or getting robbed. We have to find other means of
transportation and walking is surely an improbable option. In 2010 the program ‘Ecobici’ was born. It
started with 84 bike stations and 1,200 bikes. Now it has 444 bike stations and
over 6,000 bikes available. In 2010,
only 0.8 million rides were registered, but during 2014 7.9 million rides were
registered, showing a 1000% increase in its use. Riding a bike is one of the best options available
nowadays and with Ecobici, now you don't have to buy a bike. According to a
close friend, his average speed on a bike in Mexico City is 15 km/h. Only 2
km/h less than the average car speed in 2007! We can criticize many things of
our local government, but the work done in streets to make bike lanes is
something worth noting. There is a lot of work to be done yet but the interest
is there. According to a study by ‘Bikenomics’, there was a 400% growth in sales
of businesses when a bike lane was made in the business’ street in Seattle. It
may be a coincidence but the data
exists.
Promoting
the usage of bikes in cities helps everyone, even the non users because less
cars are going when they are. As more people start biking, less noxious gases
are being emitted by cars and air quality as well as the city temperature are
improving . It's a cheap (you pay 400 mxn for an annual subscription),
sustainable, and healthy mean of transportation that has to grow. Little by
little the people is noticing this and the car drivers are learning to respect
bikers. We have to dream big and maybe one day we can be like Copenhagen, where
more than half of its population goes to work on a bicycle. It's important to respect bikers and join the
community if we can, they are helping the city to be a better place and as an
extra profit, they work out as they go from their home to the school or work.
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