Cycling Mobility in Barcelona. The Cyclist ID card.
Bicycle mobility in Barcelona has grown steadily in recent years. The III Urban Bicycle Barometer was recently published in Barcelona.
A study on bicycle mobility in Barcelona, promoted by the RACC insurance company, proposes interesting conclusions and recommendations. A few though controversial.
A survey on 600 urban cyclists. Following some of them.
The bicycle (private or public) is used in 2.6% of commuting stages (stages of full commuting). This percentage generally shows constant annual growth. This is certainly a reason to be happy.
In 2020 the number of cyclists has decreased by 10%, but this data has a trick. There is a notable drop on mobility due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are mainly more cyclists (9%) as a result of covid-19 and the perception of insecurity when moving with collective public transport.
Employees (65%) and students (27%) are the most active groups in bicycle commuting than older people.
40% of commuting workers have parking facilities and 13% have other supports (changing rooms, financial aid). 47% has no support to bike to work.
The bicycle is most commonly used for journeys between 10 and 20 minutes.
Health (34%) and speed (30%) are the main reasons. With a gender gap.
The helmet is widely accepted, but shows a certain ignorance of the statutory rules and some mandatory accessories
Would you get a Cyclist ID card? Would you be an urban cyclist if a bicycle insurance is required?
Some proposals stem from the cyclists’ responses, highlighting the following
- Creating a more segregated infrastructure to increase safety.
- Reward by the companies for cycling options.
- Improve training and road safety.
- More electrification of public bike share.
- Tax incentives for commuting by bicycle.
- Provide a mandatory liability insurance
- Cyclist ID card
What do you think? What if, instead of cyclist ID cards, we promote best cycling practices? What if we include the bicycle, sustainable mobility and road safety in the educational environment?
Initiatives such as insurance or a cyclist ID card may have a reason, but they discourage the mobility of cyclists, when we need quite the opposite.
Promoting cycling culture (among the youngest, adults, companies and institutions) and education, together with safe infrastructure development, are the main keys to healthy mobility, safe, invisible … and essential model development.
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