Cyclist Suffers Toxic Attack!

A bicyclist gets smoke bombed by a bus on 26th Street. 

The other day, these bicyclists were pedaling along 26th St. when this bus belched this toxic cloud over one of them.

And some people ask why more Bogotanos don't ride bikes.

Other people ask why authorities don't sanction polluters. But why ask absurd questions?

Blog by Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

TransMilenio Attacks a Cyclist

A cyclist descending Ave. Jimenez (also known as the Eje Ambiental, the Environmental Axis), on a collision course with a TransMilenio bus's exhaust.

The suffering cyclist after a toxic bath, courtesy of TransMilenio.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Bogotá's Masked Cyclists

"I don't want to eat dust," explained this woman, a foreigner, in Teusaquillo. 

Sadly, many cyclists in Bogotá feel obliged to wear masks to try to protect themselves from air pollution. It's terribly unfair that we cyclists suffer because others - including environmental authorities - ignore the law!

How'd you like to be cycling near this smog-belching TransMilenio bus, which I spotted on the 'Eje Ambiental,' (the so-called 'Environmental Axis.')

To this masked cyclist, whom I met on Calle 26, near the Universidad Nacional, I noted that laws do exist here limiting vehicle emissions. But the guy wasn't hopeful. "But here the laws are ignored," he observed.

A good place to ride?

Wouldn't you hate to be caught riding behind this smog-belching bus? (I was there.)

These guys, who were just gassed by a TransMilenio bus, forgot to wear their masks today. 

Even on the car-free section of Ave. Septima, this woman masks herself.

 By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

La Ciclovia is Good Business!

Ciclovia-type events' economic benefits far outweigh their costs. 

Bogotá's fun, healthful Ciclovia is sometimes described as 'the world's longest street party.'

But it also gets criticized as a frivolous luxury which should be restricted to reduce inconveniences for cars. A few years ago, a congressman tried and failed to cut back La Ciclovia's ending time to noon from 2 p.m. for just that reason.

Kids ride new bikes on Bogotá's Ciclovia. 

After all, everybody knows that automobile drivers are doing something important, while joggers, skaters and bicyclists are wasting time which could be better spent burning fossil fuels.

But now a study published in the Journal of Urban Health finds that Ciclovias, which were pioneered by Bogotá, are good for the economy, too.

The researchers looked at four Ciclovia-type events: in Bogotá and Medellin; Guadalajara, Mexico and San Francisco, California.

The researchers tried to evaluate to what extent the Ciclovía events increased participants' physical activity and also calculated the events' costs. Bogotá's Ciclovia came out first on all points. Firstly, it's the cheapest per-capita of all of the events, at only U.S. $6.00 per participant per year, compared to $6.5 for Guadalajara, $23.4 for Medellin and $70.5 for San Francisco. That's likely because of the Bogotá Ciclovia's great number of participants and greater frequency than the events in other cities. What's more, the Bogotá Ciclovia also produced more savings per peso or dollar invested than the other Ciclovias, all of which were 'profitable,' according to the study. Bogotá's Ciclovía returned between $3.23 and $4.26 for each dollar invested, Medellin's $1.83, Guadalajara's $1.02 to $1.23 and  San Francisco's $2.32.

Doing aerobics in the Recrovia, part of the Ciclovia. 

The 'profits' include only saved medical costs, and not the healthier people's greater productivity at work, which must be substantial.

The return on investment is lots bigger than that produced by a gymnasium or a swimming pool because the infrastructure - roads and parks - is already built.

Of course, La Ciclovía's real value is in the improved quality of life it produces. But cold economic numbers like these justify La Ciclovia for businessmen who are addicted to their cars, or even sell cars.

Comparative weekly costs of various physical activity programs. Bogotá's Ciclovia is the furthest left.
(Graph: BikePortland.org)

Thanks to this 'silly and inconvenient' Ciclovia event, their employees are happier, more productive, miss fewer days of work and have lower health care costs.

Now, if only Bogotá would improve cycling conditions during the other six days of the week!

See also: Study: Health benefits outweigh costs of ciclovia events

By Mike Ceaser of Bogotá Bike Tours

Is Biking in Bogotá Bad for You?

Don't breathe deep: Cyclists on car-clogged Carrera 10.

Smokin' - a belching Bogotá bus. 

I've seen a spate of articles recently celebrating the benefits of bicycling. For example, there's 'Secret to a long, healthy life: Bike to the store' on the U.S.'s National Public Radio, or this one about a study finding that replacing driving with cycling would save billions of dollars in fuel and car expenses, slash health expenses and improve air quality.

But is it true here in Bogota?

Cyclists on a Cicloruta on Calle 13.

A recent study by professors at the National University found that cyclists who used Ciclorutas along busy avenues suffered significantly more respiratory problems than those who used Ciclorutas exposed to less pollution. The strange thing about the study is that this doesn't mean only that Cicloruta users are at risk, but that all users of these avenues are, including the people in vehicles trapped in traffic jams.

Of course, this doesn't change cycling's great benefits for the city, in less pollution, traffic congestion and fuel consumption. And bicycling still reduces obesity and improves health in many ways, despite the pollution.

But I was disappointed by some of the comments other readers had left on the story, which criticized the academics for doing the study and the media for disseminating it 'Because it would discourage people from bicycling.'

A delivery cyclist wears a protective face mask. 

That might be true. But, even if everybody stops cycling, the pollution will continue sickening Bogotanos in their homes, cars, buses and walking along streets. And, unless authorities take strong measures, it'll just get worse and worse and worse as more cars flood into the city, creating more congestion and the existing cars, buses and trucks age.

The solutions aren't complicated, altho they might be difficult to implement:

Newly-elected mayor needs to follow thru on his promise to create a London-style congestion charge for private vehicles. That would reduce congestion and pollution and provide more money for public transit.

A cyclist trapped by cars on Jimenez Ave. 

The city needs to go ahead with implementation of the Integrated System of Public Transit, the SITP, which would impose some order on the private buses and phase out thousands of the oldest, and presumably the dirtiest, buses.

But, first and foremost, city officials need to enforce the law. EcoPetrol has promised to clean up Bogotá's gasoline and diesel fuels to international standards and officials must hold the company to its word. And EcoPetrol can afford to provide clean fuel for Colombia's capital city - the company earned record profits last year. Even more fundamentally, the city needs to enforce air pollution laws on vehicles and factories. Observation of many of Bogotá's cars, trucks and buses, some of which apparently run on coal, makes it obvious that pollution laws are a dead letter.

'Location of Ciclorutas can be damaging to health' - U.N. News Agency

Check out this video, in Spanish, denouncing pollution in Bogotá. (Video sobre contaminacion en Bogotá.)