Bike Plan Stop 4: Mexico City

Viva La Raza

Like the other cities discussed this week, Mexico also has a bike lover as a Mayor. Last year, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard ordered a new Bike Master Plan and set a goal of tripling the mode share for cyclists in the next three years from .7% to 2%. The eventual goal of the plan is for mode share to stabilize at 5%

When Ebrard announced the new plan, he also announced that city employees must bike to their jobs on the first Monday of every month. Surprisingly, the rides have been a hit with city employees, but of course such symbolism is worthless if not backed by policy.

The final Master Plan will build 186 new miles of bike lanes, install bike facilities at Metro stations and create a bike sharing program for residents unable to purchase bikes themselves. As we’ve seen before, cities serious about promoting cycling commit to building hundreds of miles of new lanes.

Unrelated, my research also found what is perhaps the coolest bike law in the world, “…Also, anyone who whistled at or annoyed a bicycle rider could be arrested.”

For the second time in two international stories, my research led me straight to research already done by writer’s at my future home at Streetsblog. Helmuts off…
Photo from San Diego Union Tribune via Streetsblog