Drawing Pedicabs Out of Illegality

Bicitaxis await passengers near Los Martires Plaza.

The administration of Mayor Peñalosa is working on a long-needed plan to enable the city's thousands of pedicabs to operate legally.

The pedicabs carry out an important service, carrying commuters short distances from places like

A row of pedicabs in Los Martires.

TransMilenio stations a few blocks or kilometers to their workplaces and then back again. But, until now, they have done so in an unregulated netherworld where they are neither legal nor illegal.

Yes, even outside the law, the cabs represent income for thousands of people and perform a valuable service for commuters.

But the legalization of the pedicabs has long been opposed by the taxi lobby, which considers them competition.

Pedicab drivers complain that police sometimes stop them from working and even confiscate their cabs.

Legalizing the cabs and formalizing their work is a good idea - but should be done gradually and carefully. After all, these people work outside the law for a reason: they don't want to bother with rules and regulations. Also, the bicitaxi drivers are generally poor, unsophisticated men, who won't find it easy conforming to bureaucratic standards, even if they try to. They will need support, and probably subsidies, to conform to the law.

The city wants all pedicabs to follow routes and use designated parking areas; they are also to carry insurance, submit to periodic safety checks, have a driver's license and belong to a pedicab company. In addition, the law prohibits gasoline-powered pedicabs, which have become common in recent years. The vehicles must be either pedal or electric-powered.

Will the great majority of the pedicabers decide that becoming legal is less of a burden than continuing to battle the police? Only time will tell. But if they do not, then the city will find itself back where it started.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Crusading for Las Ciclorutas

Cycling activists in front of Bogotá's Movilidad, or Transit Department.

Way back around the year 2000, Bogotá's ciclorutas, or bike lanes, were a pioneering initiative. But more than a decade, several mayors and years of neglect later, some ciclorutas seem more like monuments to urban mismanagement.

Today, a group of bike advocates and an official from the city's Movilidad, or Transit Department, rode some of the city's bike lanes to see the problems first-hand. They found blocked and invaded bike lanes, troubles with signage and difficult street crossings, among other things.

Andrés Vergara and other cyclists in an impromptu meeting with Transit Department officials (the two women in dark shirts) in the agency's parking lot. 

Transit Department officials expressed support for improving and expanding the city's bike lanes, but said their department has to seek the funds in other government agencies. They also promised to join a ride along some bike lanes to see the problems.

Do as I say, not as I do: The transit department is supposed to promote cycling and mass transit. And one of the officials had in fact brought her bike to work today - in the back of her SUV. She said she didn't like driving. "If I didn't have an assigned driver, I'd probably come to work in public transit," she said.

Really? I'll wait and see.But, as people personally immersed in car culture, one wonders how deep their commitment is. 

Bogotá's ciclorutas have been troubled from the start. Many are built on sidewalks, forcing cyclists to dodge pedestrians, vendors and delivery vehicles. And where the lanes are on streets, cyclists are obliged to swallow exhaust from Bogotá's highly-polluting vehicles.

A father and daughter ride the cicloruta along Calle 13. 

A sidewalk-level crossing for cyclists on Calle 13, which doesn't require bicyclists to descend and ride up again. However, the crossing has other obstacles. 

Pedal up! Where street crossings aren't raised to sidewalk level, cyclists have to repeatedly descend and then ride up again. Often, the curb accesses are not smooth.

One would think that along a bike lane cyclists would get priority...But this pick-up truck driver didn't think twice before cutting of a cyclist.

A truck waiting to turn stops on top of a crosswalk. Car drivers always assume they have priority, even when they're in pedestrians' , or cyclists', space.

A difficult crossing. 

A bicyclist manuevers around a cellular phone sales tent set up on Calle 13's bike lane. This tent has been here for weeks, with no apparent trouble from transit authorities. Would they have it so easy if they blocked cars?

A cellular phone sales tent set up in the Calle 13 bike lane blocks a wheelchair user. 

Another hazard along bike lanes: Air pollution, like this smokestack, which happened to be located next door to the Health Secretariat. 

While I was photographing the stationary chimney, this 'rolling chimney,' also known as a 'truck', passed by.

Many of Bogotá's ciclorutas, like this one on Calle 13, are located along the city's most polluted streets, making one ask whether or not bicycling in Bogotá is healthy. 

This sidewalk does contain a bike lane, if you could only see it amidst the potholes and obstacles. 

Lots of signs, but not so much space on this bike lane near San Victorino Plaza.

A somewhat worn sign along Calle 13's bike lane. 

At Caracas Ave., Calle 13's bike lane simply ends, with no continuation. 

And Caracas Ave. has no bike lane. 

Near San Victorino Plaza, this vendor found this bike lane a convenient spot for a food stand.

Wonder why? This bicyclist preferred to ride on the street instead of this sidewalk bike lane. 

The Transit Department's parking lot. The bicycle's area is hidden in the corner, between the motorcycles and the double-parked cars. We discovered an electric scooter in the bicycle rack. The security guard insisted the scooter was a bicycle.

The Transit Department's parking lot has an area for bicycles, squeezed in between the cars and motorcycles. Like nearly all workplaces, this one provides free parking for cars, subsidizing the most inefficient form of transit.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Bikes and Buses - Can They Cohabit?

Good neighbors? A bicyclist squeezes past a bus on Carrera 10.

Bogotá transit planners' latest scheme to reorganize Bogotá's transit is to create exclusive lanes shared by buses and bicycles. It's actually a good idea in principle - particularly for the bus riders, who could be freed from the traffic jams generated by all those single-passengers cars.

Ave. Jimenez in La Candelaria is reserved for
buses, and many cyclists use the corridor.

But can bicyclists and buses co-exist? Would bus drivers respect cyclists? Would cyclists exasperate bus drivers by darting in front of them? Would bicyclists get blasted by buses' exhaust?

Most importantly of all, tho, would the plan work at all? I doubt it. Unless the city invests in TransMilenio-type concrete barriers separating these new bus lanes from the rest of the traffic, will car drivers respect them? Unfortunately, I doubt it.

Pedaling up Ave. Jimenez
with a bus behind.

This sounds like yet another fantasy plan from the Petro administration, which seems convinced that human nature is so benevolent and unselfish that a few billboards and pamphlets handed out in the street are all it takes to reform human nature.

On the other hand, in the one place where buses and bikes share an avenue free of cars - on Ave. Jimenez in La Candelaria, it works pretty well and is used by many cyclists.

Bogotá does need new ideas for bike lanes.

Build safe bike lanes and cyclists will come: A father and
son pedal along the new bike lane thru
the Centro Intrernacional. 

Many of the city's existing bike lanes are on sidewalks, forcing cyclists to dodge pedestrians, forklifts and delivery vehicles. Cars park on the lanes and businesses use them to store and display products.

But, where they feel safe and have their own space, cyclists will come, as the car-free stretch of Ave. Septima has demonstrated. Bogotá needs to invest in real, protected and continuous corridors for cyclists. That won't be easy, but it's a necessary step for promoting cycling here.

Many of Bogotá's existing bike lanes, like this one along Calle 13, are on sidewalks, forcing cyclists to compete with pedestrians. 

On the street, cyclists must prepare to swallow buses' diesel.

Make space for cyclists? A bicyclist amongst cars on Ave. Caracas.

Bicyclists navigate amidst traffic on Ave. Septima, which badly needs a bike lane. 

A tight squeeze: A bicyclist crosses an overpass amidst traffic.

Sharing space with buses means breathing their exhaust.

A mcyclist on a bike lane near the Universidad Nacional.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Satisfied Cyclists?

These cyclists are happy. They're riding on the car-free stretch of Ave. Septima, in central Bogotá.

The annual quality of life survey Bogotá, ¿Cómo Vamos? found that the Colombian city dwellers who are most satisfied with their means of transport are....bicyclists!

I have to wonder whom they spoke to. Many cyclists, sadly, ride to save bus fare, and dream of driving a car. How satisfying can dodging aggressive vehicles while swallowing fumes be? Maybe a lot, especially when you're sailing past people locked inside boxes trapped in traffic jams.

Almost 80% of bicyclists are happy with their means of transport, as opposed to barely half of TransMilenio and metro users. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Public Bikes for Bogotá II?

A cyclist squeezed by cars on Carrera 10.
How many non-cyclists will dare to pedal Bogotá's streets?

Bogotá's city government has, once again, promised to create a public bicycles system, this time before the end of next year.

Bogotá already made a trial run on two sites, which seemed to find real demand. But the trial was halted, while Medellin has launched its system and is expanding it.

A cyclis in the National University. A public bicycles
program here was ended after many bikes
were stolen and damaged. 

But, before setting up such a system, the city needs to look hard at issues such as crime, the wealther, how to charge and the city's cycling conditions. The only sustained shared bikes program tried in Bogotá was in the National University's campus. But even tho the campus is a closed area with guards at entrances and exits, the university ended the program after several years because many of the bikes were damaged or stolen. On campus, users simply picked up a bike to use and dropped it off at their destination.

One key difference with a municipal system, presumably, is that users will be identified and responsible for returning bikes in good condtion.

City employees lend bikes on Seventh Ave.
But the free program only covers a six-block stretch. 

Still, look at Bogotá's crime, chaotic streets and often-useless bike lanes, not to mention its hills and rain, and I have to wonder about this system's potential. A more mundane concern is the low rate of credit card/bank account use among Bogotanos, which will complicate charging systems.

If the system is tried and works, then great. It'll boost cycling, improve the city's chaotic transit, get people exercising and contribute to the city's image. Hopefully it'll also spur officialdom to improve conditions for all cyclists and drivers to give cyclists some respect. But if it fails, it'll be a black eye for cycling and mean more opposition to all cycling initiatives.

Somewhere on this sidewalk, probably underneath the cars, is a bike lane. 

A bike lane with a post in it. 

A homeless person found this bike lane to be a good camping spot. If he were blocking cars, the cops would move him. 

A bicyclist wears a facemask to protect himself from pollution.

A nice bike lane near the National Univesity. If they were only all like this one. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Pedicabers Protest For Their Right To Pedal

Colorful pedicabs lined up in front of the Palacio de Justicia on Plaza Bolivar. 

The other day, Plaza Bolivar's look changed more radically than it has since the zorreros protested, as hundreds of pedicab drivers occupied the square demanding their right to work. 

Two pedicab drivers. 

In fact, thousands of pedicabs, called bicitaxis, operate throughout Bogotá, carrying passengers on short trips, often less than a mile, between TransMilenio stations and nearby destinations. The pedicabs are a cheap, efficient, non-polluting transport mode which cause little congestion - in particular, because they often combine passengers who arrive separately, something normal taxis can't do. 

Dozens of pedicabs and their drivers in front of Congress. 

Ideal, right? Except that the pedicabs are technically illegal. Their drivers complain that police sometimes harass them and even confisticate their vehicles.

The only explanation I've been able to get for this perverse situation is the political pressure from conventional taxi drivers, who see the pedicabs as a threat. Perhaps they are, altho only in a very minor, limited way. But city leaders need to defy the taxistas lobby and do what's best for the city by legalizing and supporting the pedicabs. In addition to issues of transit and serving the public, the pedicab drivers are poor men with very limited skills and education. If they lose their way of life, many families will likely go hungry. 

Pedaling across the plaza. 

Transit officials on two wheels look over the protest march, which also included many other organizations. 

A late arrival pedals up. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours