The State of Bogotá's Ciclorutas

Bogotá has what is called the largest network of bicycle routes on the continent. But it's no secret that many of them are in lousy shape, as El Tiempo newspaper reports.
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/bogota/alarma-por-estado-de-ciclorrutas_7753741-1

But, at least Bogotá does have a network of bike ways, even though a good number of them are barely usable, due to disrepair or because they're blocked by pedestrians and delivery vehicles.

Once again, more than repair potholes, Bogotá needs to make fundamental changes, such as taking away street space from cars and giving it to bikes. And reducing pollution and traffic chaos. And teaching motorists to respect other, non-motorized vehicles.

This blog written by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours

License to Drive = License to Kill?

Ten years ago, Fabián Rolando Méndez ran over and killed a cyclist.

On April 10 of this year, driving his truck drunk, Mendéz crashed into a woman and three girls, injuring all of them, two of the girls severely.

Today, after two months in prison, Méndez, of the city of Bucaramanga, is back on the street. The lawyer representing the victims said: "Mr. Mendez didn't want to injure, or much less kill, these girls. It was an accident."

And Mendéz did apologize - so, we should feel sorry for him. After all, how many drivers have the bad luck to have four pedestrians and a cyclist get in their way in only a dead - especially when they are driving drunk, and so have limited control. The pedestrians should have known better. 

Sarcasm aside, a judge reduced Mendez's charges, so that he's now out of jail, even though at least two of his maimed victims are still in the hospital, having reconstructive surgery.

Ask yourself: If Mr. Mendez had been using a chainsaw, a gun, a hammer or a knife and gotten drunk and injured four people, after having killed one person the same way, would they have called it an accident? 

What about if Mendez had been a taxi driver or construction worker, instead of a member of a prominent family, and ex-director of the city's Sports and Recreation Institute?

What if Mendéz's victim had been driving an expensive truck himself?

But, when the weapon is a car or truck and the person wielding it is influential and the victims simple pedestrians or cyclists, then killing or maiming are evidently forgiveable mistakes in Colombia.

Méndez's crime moved local residents to march through Bucaramanga demanding justice for the injured woman and girls.  There's even a Facebook group demanding that Mendéz pay for what he did.

This blog written by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours 

Pedestrianization, Parking

The Free ADN newspaper, of all places, has published several articles relevant to cycling.

Eleventh St., from Carrera 2 down past the Plaza Bolivar, to Carrera 10 (in La Candelaria), is to become a 'pedestrian corridor,' with restricted vehicular access.

Pedestrianization of the center will do lots of good for Bogotá. Taxis and other motor vehicles often race thru here, ignoring stop signs. With all the kids around as well as persons under the influence in this neighborhood, it's amazing that more pedestrians don't get hit. The great majority of people in La Candelaria are students and tourists, who move mostly by foot. And most neighborhood residents don't own cars. So, it's not right (is it anywhere?) that the car-using minority tyrannizes the self-propelled majority.

But I have one concern: on some other pedestrianized streets in the center, bicyclists are required to get off and walk - even tho I've never seen or heard of a bicycle-pedestrian accident in this area. What are the plans for 11th St.?

'No hay dinero para el deporte' - No money for sports! 

Until recently, a sports tax was included on phone bills to pay for things such as physical activities for kids and seniors, as well as the Sunday/holiday Ciclovia. A judge recently suspended the tax, however. ADN reports that the city expected this tax to generate about $150 million in 2013, which will be lost unless the judge's decision gets reversed.

The Ciclovia, for one, has already been cut back. Will this mean they'll hack off more sections?

(On the other hand, with ETB providing such lousy and expensive phone service, it's not surprising that nobody wants to pay for it.)

Bike Parking lots Inaugurated 

They've opened a bike parking facility in the Recaurte Transmillenio Station for 162 bikes. That's a good thing. There are also already much larger bike parking lots at some major TM stations, with a total capacity for 1,640 bikes.

The lots have been criticized, however, as under-used. On average, they receive only about 480 bikes per day.

In my opinion, the city committed a fundamental, conceptual mistake by building a few huge and expensive bike parking lots, instead of doing something simple and cheap like placing bike racks at every station. As a result, most TM stations have no bike parking, while these few huge parking lots sit mostly empty. But monumental structures appear oh so much more impressive.

Meanwhile, unfortunately and absurdly, four 'Meeting points,' at TM stations, built years ago, and with capacity for hundreds of bikes, have never opened. That's because the city wants someone to take them on as a concession and run them for a profit - economically unrealistic right now.

Bike parking should be a free, subsidized service, since cycling contributes so much to cities' and individuals' health.

While writing this, I've found two facebook forums on bike parking in Bogota:

Free parking for bicycles in Bogotá.

For the right to park bicycles in Bogotá.

This blog written by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours and Rentals

And what about Bicitaxis?

How about a form of transportation which is clean, generates little congestion, and can even be a tourist attraction? 

Sounds ideal. But Bogotá's response is: Don't allow them!

Thousands of bicitaxis, or bike taxis, operate in Bogotá, carrying people for short distances, often near Transmilenio stations. Unfortunately, they're not recognized by the vehicle code, and are therefore illegal. Still, in many neighborhoods, the police have tolerated the bicitaxis and let them work. But a new version of the Transit Code would reportedly ban the bicitaxis completely.

As it is, the bicitaxi operators, who are generally poor people and often displaced victims of Colombia's violence, often get hassled by police and sometimes their vehicles are even impounded. The bicitaxi operators have protested many times, demanding that the vehicle code be amended to recognize their vehicles, but without luck. 

Unfortunately, pedal taxi operators don't have powerful allies, while their enemies, the regular taxi drivers, do. It's long been a general suspicion that the organizations of regular taxi drivers have blocked the bicitaxis' legalization.  

Perhaps some sane politician will choose public interest over politics and take a stand for these humble, hard-working people who are providing such a good service. 

Victory at the Cemetery!

Well, it took months and lots of phone calls and nagging, but they finally installed a simple bike rack in the Central Cemetery. Hopefully, the other cemeteries will follow - as the law requires. 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Another observation: Good for the Consorcio Renacer, which manages the cemeteries, for having the common sense to install a simple, inexpensive, unpretentious bike rack. In contrast, the City of Bogotá has built four expensive and sophisticated bike parking facilities - which have sat unused for years. http://mikesbogotabikeblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-not-park-bicycles.html

Unfortunately, the 'Bikes prohibited' sign is still there on the cemetery's front gate:

This blog pedaled to you by Mike Ceaser of Bogota Bike Tours

Blocked Again!

A common sight for cyclists everywhere - thoughtless drivers blocking bike lanes. This lane, in the Parkway in Bogotá's Teusaquillo neighborhood, is also used by pedestrians, wheelchair users, skaters and others. But this man clearly doesn't care. He even appears proud. (After I said somethign to him, he did say 'You're right' and move his car. A tiny victory.) 

Imagine, just for a second, a bicyclist parking his bike sideways across a car lane. It would be a scandal! A criminal act! At least, an act of civil disobedience requiring imprisonment. This blog brought to you by Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours and Rentals

Bogotá's Traffic Chaos

What's this scene of commuters piling into a truck got to do with bicycling? Plenty!
Today, the city's commercial bus drivers went on strike. That's bad, because so many people depend on the buses here. But the drivers were striking against the city's policies designed to organize and clean up the city's dirty, chaotic and inefficient private buses.
That's fundamental for cyclists, because the city's chaos can make cycling dangerous and unpleasant, not to mention the damage from the pollution belched by buses like these below. Of course, many private vehicles also pollute unjustifiably, especially those new Chinese trucks. But, in Bogotá, buses still generate the lion's share of vehicle pollution, and until now many are obviously flouting the law - to the harm of all of us. The bus owners' strike shows that finally the city is really cracking down - or trying to.
In the end, the strike lasted four days, until the city agreed to give the bus companies a bigger slice of the income from the planned Integrated Transit System. With that system, some 8,000 older buses are supposed to be junked and replaced with 2,000 larger, cleaner and more-efficient buses. Let's all cross our fingers!

Ecoaire is a clean air organization created by, of all people, Ecopetrol, Colombia's state oil company.
This page is supposed to provide Bogotá's daily air quality, but I can't get it to work.
Here's my take on Bogotá transit on my other blog.
This blog is written by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours and Rentals