Author Archives: jm

Can I afford a cargo bike?

Over the last years, cargo bikes are becoming more popular. They can be used to carry groceries, children or even a piano. A person who has not had a cargo bike previously can think “I want it, but can not have it”. The main problem is where will be saved this bike as they are larger than traditional bicycles. This can constitute a prejudice since a car or a motorbike is also large, but people usually find a place for them. If you have two cars, get rid of one of them and now you have space for the cargo bike. Additionally, cities should modify the urban design to incorporate more spaces for bicycles (including cargo bikes) and people, and take it off to cars. For instance, if living blocks will be obliged to dedicate a space within the buildings for them, bikers will have a specific space for their bikes. Again, councils can build public bike parking that has been demonstrated effectiveness in other cities.

What makes successful a public bike sharing system?

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Many cities around the world already have or are implementing a public bike sharing system as their citizens demand more and more bicycle advancements. The bike movement can not be stopped, only delayed. Among all those sharing systems, there are some that have a great success and some others which need a push.

What are the key points in a good public bike sharing system? Knowing the characteristics of the city is key. If they city is flat and small or medium size, bicycles should not be electric since there is no need for that. Indeed, less e-bikes means more exercise, better health and less costs. Next, it is common that such system are used slightly more by women, so it is a good idea to design them under a feminine perspective. On the other hand, the more difficult step is the first one: to implant the first bike sharing stations and bicycles when the city has few cyclists. Do not worry, as more people pedaling, much more will like to do it. If new bike infrastructures like segregated bike lanes, the better. At the beginning, councils can doubt between doing the bike sharing system themselves or hire a private company. The final decision will depend on several factors such as budget, public workers knowledge on biking or if there is at least one urban biker among the councils workers. This last point is extremely important due to the fact that bad bike sharing systems and bike lanes had been built in the past, and new bicycle viewpoints thanks to those public workers over the years have promoted alternative, bike-friendly redesigns of them. Implementing these innovations costs money and time.

Can a complete sustainability be achieved?

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I have thought about it and it is almost an utopia. For instance, if a company designs and ensembles a bicycle, it is the case that the energy used to build it can come from renewable sources, but if we take into account the whole lifecycle of it, from the cradle to the grave, it turns out that there are stages such as the raw resources extraction or the end-of-life which could be unsustainable. So, what are some ideas to advance in industrial processes sustainability?

Rethinking products and processes with green glasses, redesigning them, taking a chance on material reductions, using less impact vehicles for logistics, recycling materials and products, perhaps digitalization, enhancing circular economy, and promoting biking and public transport over cars are examples on how to advance in sustainability. Depending on your situation, you can fulfill some or all of them. In any case, opt for sustainability whenever you can to fight against climate change.

What if there are a lot of bikes?

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In some cities like Amsterdam (The Netherlands), there is a problem with so many bicycles on streets. Amsterdam has built at least two mega-parking next to the Central Train Station, another at the Dam square and the third at Leidseplein, to name a few. Still, when celebrating an important event there is the need of increasing safe parking for bikes. In such cases, there is the possibility of creating a parking for thousand of bicycles in a fast way in order not to use cars.

Moreover, they made a test in Pijp, the highest density neighbor in Amsterdam, consisted in painting rectangles on the soil. This proposal by the local cyclist association (Fietsersbond) reduced the sidewalk obstruction and improved the urban living. After it, the neighbor erased car parking so today shows the best equilibrium between density and accessibility. Additionally, there are places specifically designed for cargobikes since they overcome the standard bike measures.

On the other hand, some 24-h commercial premises work as public bicycles parkings and storage boxes for 5 bikes which have a shared key to the neighbor in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). This way there are less bicycles hindering sidewalks.

Walloon

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Walloon (Belgium) is an attractive cyclist destiny with more than 1,800 kilometers of RAVeL, several bike paths with different levels, and about 800 Bienvenue Vélo agents (safe hotels to lock your bike) to make your bike-tourist trip comfortable. Indeed, four EuroVelo cross the zone. Thus, there is a myriad of landscapes to enjoy, from the forest region of Ardennes to the Canal du Centre (Heritage of Humanity) and its four hydraulic elevators. Moreover, there are bike shops, multi-services companies and ebike charging points.

RAVeL means Slow Paths Autonomous Net, or in other words more than 1,800 kilometers for pedaling, 45 itineraries that connect to fourteen national and international routes. You can complete the lakes tour of Eau d’Heure or the VennBahn route. Regarding History, villages such as Fagnolle and Falaën make it well worth the effort as well as the Durbuy and Dinant cities.

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BSF

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Bicycles have been using for more than pedaling and one of the alternative uses is helping people lives. I wrote about Soterranya and its impressive work by recovering bikes in bad state, fixing them and donating them to persons who need them. At the time of writing this post, Soterranya has given more than 3,000 bikes and actively participated in the recovery from the Valencia, Spain, DANA in the next months after October 2024 in those villages more negatively affected.

Another inspiring example is BSF (Bicicletas Sin Fronteras, Bicycles Without Frontiers) (https://www.bicicletassinfronteras.org/, in Spanish). It was born in 2015 and has donated more than 2,700 bikes to the Senegal population. Its aim consists in helping local people by giving bicycles to students, instead of walking kilometers to school, to improve their academic performance, promote employment and strengthen communities to them. Their baobikes system is locally managed. All in all, the most complicated was to change the white-man mentality, and understand and adapt to their local culture. Romà Boulé, the BSF responsible, affirms that they have received requests from other countries, but he remarks the need of local entities which know the area, and have enough technical knowledge and economic support for such a project.

Riding close to leaves?

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Riding a bike has direct impact in protecting environment and trees. The relation between bicycles and trees is expressed to a higher degree at the Bosland National Park (Belgium). Here, not only you can pedal close to trees, but also close to its leaves. This is due to a special bike line between Lommel, Hechtel-Eksen and Pelt known as Fietsen door de Bomen or Cyclign through the Trees. This massive bike circle has a slope of 3% – 4%, is 700 meters long and one 3 meters unidirectional line.

The perfect integration of this infrastructure and nature makes the experience magical. Its designers tell proud that they had in mind flora and fauna respect to determine the bike line. Additional technical issues like the use of minimal machine in the national park or the final ensemble were also put into practice. A metal mesh protects bikers from falling from the top of the bike line.

Different Sundays

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Every Sunday in Bogota, Colombia, is different thanks to Ciclovia. From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., streets become more human, quieter and peaceful. Ciclovia was born 50 years ago when the independent organization Pro-cicla closed the first streets to pollutant vehicles on 15^th December 1974. It congregated 5,000 people who protested against pollution, cars and lack of leisure alternatives in the city. In June of 1976, the mayor made it “official” through decrees 566 and 567. As time passed by, the number of kilometers for people on Sundays diminished to 20, until Ciclovía was managed by the Secretaría de Tránsito y Transporte and the Instituto Distral de Recreación y Deporte. Today, more than 80 kilometers are closed every Sunday. Even more, there is the Ciclovia Nocturna (Night Ciclovia) which consists in closing streets twice in August and Christmas. It started in December 1999 and three million people enjoyed it.

As it comes to the types of people who take advantage of Ciclovia, the earlier risers are the cyclist who preferred making sport since they go to Patio, Guadalupe and Montserrate hills. Next, families with children use streets as playing grounds. After them, other bikers, skaters, senior citizens and walkers join the celebration. Finally, food sellers, gymnastic groups and sometimes live concerts contribute to make it a party.

The success of this event goes deep into transforming an area into a democratic and universal surface. Not surprisingly, it has been exported to other cities within Colombia, Chili, Mexico and USA.

The path

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How would our cities be if car did not dominate them?

Today, most of cites are mastered by cars which product pollution, noise, dead cashes and less surface for people. If the XX century had been different and vehicles such as bicycles, buses or trains would be opted for, I assure you that there would be far less car fatalities, people would have better health and psychology, climate change could be no problem today, children would still play on streets, adults would enjoy streets and neighbor relationships more, extracted energy from Earth would be less, wildlife would be higher and perhaps more diverse, local stores would sell more as people cycling and walking have time to see the products they sold versus people in cars who does not have time enough to focus or even see products that stores sell. They told cars improve safety in cities, but this is not true. Some examples that demonstrate it are:

– Curitiba (Brazil): For its urban planning, not focused on cars

– Copenhagen (Denmark): For its urban infrastructure and cyclist planning

– Vancouver (Canada): For its example on shared mobility

– Singapore: For its accurate tax system for vehicles

– Zurich (Switzerland): For a good-thought, public transport system

Can AI help to promote urban biking?

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Every day we read a piece of news related to advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). A lot of fields are taking advantage of it in order to automate processes, show a more precise analysis or creating new materials, just to name a few. Can AI help to promote urban biking?

As you could imagine, the answer is yes. In a few words, AI plays a significant role in promoting biking by enhancing safety, convenience and awareness for cyclists. Some ways to reach them are:

Smart route planning: AI algorithms analyze real-time traffic data, weather conditions and infrastructure to suggest the safest and most efficient biking routes. This makes more people to use cycling over other modes of transport
Traffic management and optimization: When a biker is in charge of deciding which traffic systems are better for bike users and has in mind AI, she usually determines that AI-powered traffic systems are suitable to prioritize bike lanes, optimize traffic light timings and reduce congestion. When this point is used in urban biking, it becomes safer and more appealing
Safety monitoring and alerts: AI can facilitate the development of wearable devices and bike sensors that detect hazards, monitor urban cyclist health and send alerts about approaching vehicles of unsafe street conditions
Bike sharing optimization: Although bike sharing systems are common in many cities around the world, AI can analyze usage patterns to optimize the placement and availability of shared bikes, making bikes more accessible and convenient for users
Public awareness campaigns: Apart from human thinking, AI-driven data analytics can identify barriers to cycling adoption and tailor targeted campaigns to address misconceptions, promote health benefits and inform citizens about cycling infrastructure
Infrastructure planning: Urban planners can use AI as assistant by analyzing data on traffic flow, accident hotpots and commuter patterns to design better bike lanes, bike parking and facilities
Personalized incentives: AI systems can offer personalized rewards or incentives for cycling to work or study. This way more city residents are encourage to incorporate biking into their daily routines

All these points are examples of how cities can create a safer, more efficient and more attractive environment for urban biking by using AI, leading to healthier populations and more sustainable urban development.