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

Goodbye to Bogotá's Best 'Bike Lane'

Cyclists ride in the TransMilenio lanes on 26th St., with a TM station on one side and Bogotá's Eastern Hills behind. 

A poster made by the Institute of
Recreation and Sports (the IDRD),
reminding cyclists not to ride in the
TransMilenio lanes as of June 30. 

For the past year or so, thanks to delays in putting the new TransMilenio line on 26th St. into operation, the unused lanes have been a de-facto bike lane - Bogotá's widest, straightest and most uncluttered bike lane, in fact.

But with the planned (partial) opening of the new TM line tomorrow - only about two years late - this will end. The avenue will have a bike lane designed to be a bike lane. It's a good lane, but of course it is narrower, and also shifts from the sidewalk to the center of the avenue. 

A crowd inaugurating a new TransMilenio station.

A pair of cyclists stopped in the new bike lane, or Cicloruta, in the center of 26th St. along this stretch.

By Mike Ceaser of Bogota Bike Tours

How to Make Bogotá Bikeable

Juan Pablo Garcia discusses bicycle use patterns. 

At a conference in La Candelaria this evening, speakers talked about how to make Bogotá more bikeable.

Bogotá has, of course, become known globally for its pro-cycling projects, mostly the ciclorutas and Ciclovia. But, for all that Bogotá's done for bicycling, which is lots more than have many other developing world cities, today's speakers described the cup as half-empty.

Camilo Rey, of Verde Extremo, gave an impassioned talk about his group's mountain biking activities - which hopefully will translate into more people riding bikes in the city - in addition to loading them onto cars and pedaling across the countryside.

City Councilman Roberto Saenz, also a leader of Agenda Bogotá, gave some disappointing statistics. Bicycling proponents have complained a lot recently about the lack of maintenance and expansion of the city's Cicloruta network. But Saenz said that the city government in fact does have a big budget for the ciclorutas - but that city officials bungled the contract process and so cannot spend the money.

Saenz also talked about something which hits close to my heart and lungs. A couple of years ago, the state oil company EcoPetrol promised to slash the percentage of sulphur, the primary pollutant, from over a 1,000 parts per million down to 50 ppm, which is a respectable number for a developing country, albeit still much higher than that in the U.S. and Europe. Unsurprisingly, it hasn't happened, and Bogotá's diesel still contains a poisonous 300 ppm of sulphur. Pour that stuff into Bogotá's fleet of ancient cars and buses and its new fleet of cheap Chinese vehicles, and it's no wonder that many avenues are still smoky canyons. And why cyclists are forced to choke on fumes.

EcoPetrol had said that because of its lack of refining capacity it would import clean diesel in order to provide clean fuel for the capital. Instead, it looks like the EcoPetrol execs believe it's more important to increase profits and let Bogotanos continue breathing smoke until their new refinery is finally on line. Even so, Bogotá could still do lots to clean its air by junking dirty vehicles and enforcing pollution laws generally.


Saenz offered a scary statistic: some 300,000 new cars enter Colombia every year, delighting retailers but condemning the city to worsening traffic gridlock and pollution. It's easy to see that unless the city promotes alternative transport, it'll become unliveable. Nevertheless, insanely, city officials still appear to be building transport policy around an exploding number of private cars.

And Saenz made a key suggestion: Bogotá needs an official in city government with real power charged with advocating bicycling interests, to whom cyclists can go with complaints and ideas. As it is, the huge economic and cultural forces promoting an auto-based culture push the city that way, no matter how unsustainable that model proves itself.

Use of the Ciclorutas is rising - slowly. 

Juan Pablo Garcia, an urban planning expert, showed a study 2010 of urban cycling which found that use of the Ciclorutas has been rising, albeit slowly. The study also found that demand for ciclorutas is much stronger in western Bogotá than on the city's easter side. That's likely because the west is poorer, and most of Bogotá's bike commuters are doing it save money rather than save the world. Sadly, only when more yuppies and execs start pedaling will bikes get priority. But those privileged people won't pull their two-wheelers out of the garage until cycling conditions improve. I call that a Catch-22.

Garcia also pointed out that use of the few TransMilenio stations with bike parking facilities is very unequal. (Why all TM stations don't have bike racks is beyond me).

In any case, Garcia said, the study fell on deaf ears in the city government transportation department.

Yours truly also pitched in, opining that, no matter how great the city's bicycle lanes may be, it won't be a good biking city until it controls pollution, tames traffic and until drivers learn to respect cyclists and pedestrians.

Finally, Jesus Acero described the advances of the public bicycles system in the city of Medellin, where the concept is actually advancing and will soon launch two pilot projects, one in the city and another in a park area outside of it. Their system sounds sophisticated - the bikes will have GPSs and use solar power. Users will have to register, and the first hour will be free. But they're dealing with a legal complication which will also hinder a public bikes program in Bogotá, if the city ever starts one. Medellin requires cyclists to wear helmets, but the sort of casual riders who will use the system aren't likely to carry bike helmets around with them all day. So, Acero said that as a sort of half-way solution, which sounds like a token gesture to city officials, they're going to give bike helmets to the first 100 people who sign up for the public bikes program. Hopefully, those people won't leave their helmets at home.

Even so, Medellin's biggest challenge is likely to be the city's hills.

By Mike Ceaser of Bogotá Bike Tours, the fun way to see the city!

Make Your Own Cicloruta!

Bogotá's known for its network of bicycle lanes, known as Ciclorutas. But lots of streets frequented by cyclists lack them. As part of Bogotá's Bicycle Week, a group designated new 'Ciclorutas' by stenciling bicycles onto streets near the Central University.

Maybe it's working - a cyclist passes by. 

The Universidad Central's parking lot has a practical bike rack - something rarely seen. 

But the bicyclists' battle's still not won, as the number of cars shows. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Ride the City - Bogotá

A very nice Bogotá bike lane, this one connecting the National University to Simon Bolivar Park

Ride the City, a website which provides information for cyclists about routes, repair shops and destinations, now has a Bogotá page.

This provides another excuse for looking at the state of Bogotá's system of bike lanes, called ciclorutas. 

Bogotá's ciclorutas have received lots of criticism recently for deterioration and lack of connectivity. While those criticisms are somewhat true, I don't find their condition worse than that of many Bogotá streets, which is often poor. And, while it's true that the ciclorutas often don't connect, they do go to many places. However, poor design - many are on sidewalks, where they fill with pedestrians, or run alongside congested roads, forcing cyclists to swallow diesel fumes - and lack of civic culture: the ciclorutas get blocked by cars and handcarts, discourages cyclists from using them (or bicycling at all).

In addition, I'd understood that all new TransMilenio lines were to include ciclorutas, but that doesn't appear to be happening at least on Calle 26, which runs to the airport. Some other places, the opposite is happening.

Here, a look at the good and (mostly) the bad, the new and the old, of Bogotá's ciclorutas.

Bicyclists on Calle 26, which has no bike lane, despite plenty of space for a bike lane.

A cyclist winds his way between cars and buses on Calle 26.

Calle 26 further west, near Simon Bolivar Park. Before TransMilenio construction, the cicloruta ran down the middle of the avenue. I hope that they don't have the new cicloruta jump between the sidewalk and avenue's center, which will discourage use.

This avenue connects Calle 26, which had a good cicloruta and hopefully will again, to Simon Bolivar Park, which is popular with bicyclists. So, I've never comprehended why this avenue lacks a cicloruta, despite plenty of space. (Photo taken during a Sunday Ciclovia, when the avenue is closed to cars. The rest of the week it's hazardous.)

In the Los Martires district cyclists ride in the street despite the presence of a cicloruta, which is just lines painted on a sidewalk.

The city put lots of money into these 200 meters of cicloruta, which are even protected by walls. The designers didn't consider that this would make the lane a convenient waiting and vending area for the nearby hospital, making it unusable for cyclists.

Carrera 3, in the Las Nieves area. The sidewalk used to have a cicloruta painted on it, but it disappeared during TransMilenio construction.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Innovative Uses for Bogotá's Bike Lanes

Park an SUV...

Here's a photo essay showing some innovative uses for Bogotá's bicycle lanes, known as Ciclorutas.

Take a nap (note the extended legs and the 'stop' signs....

Park a horse and cart.

Talk with a friend.... 

Sell flowers.....

Rest while street vending. ....

Repair a bus.... 

Wait outside a hospital...

Or even ride a bicycle!

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours