Bike mobility breaks records in Vitoria-Gasteiz
The increase in the number of cyclists in Vitoria Gasteiz city centre shows that mobility is changing in the city and that the new commitments of Vitoria-Gasteiz towards promoting bikes are reaping the rewards.
Statistics show that more people than ever are getting on their bike when they travel around the city, with increases of 187% in Paz street, 113% in Olaguibel street and 104% in Portal de Arriaga street. Field work undertaken assessed the impact of the public works related to the Sustainable Mobility and Public Space Plan in the non-motorised mobility. The study shows that the bike movement in Paz, Olagibel and Portal de Arriaga streets has doubled during the last year. The increase has been considerable on Portal de Gamarra, Honduras, Prado and Zaramaga streets.During 2009 and 2010, 15 new bikeways were built in the city, so there are now 27km of new bikeways. The bike network is now 97km long, and one of the objectives of the Mobility Plan is to reach 148km.Another axis of the strategy to support the bicycle in Vitoria-Gasteiz, are the bicycle parking lots. The current network has 457 parking areas on the streets, with an overall capacity of five thousand spaces. During 2010, 1,200 new spaces will be installed, and the objective of the Bike Master Plan is to install 13,565 in total throughout the Plan.Up to now, 6,710 000 € has been invested in the creation of new infrastructures (bikeways and bike parking lots). This figure will increase to ten million along the Bike Master Plan development. This amount, together with the money invested in the bike registration system, the public bike service and the education and awareness campaigns, comes to 20 million euro.Furthermore, there are some more actions aimed at the promotion of the bicycle. Vitoria-Gasteiz is the first city in Spain that has a bike route calculation service to show bicycle users the best route to their destination, while taking their security into account. It also shows where the bicyle parking lots are located.Likewise, there is a bicycle registration system that is used to identify and improve the recovery of stolen or lost bikes. Right now there are 663 registered bikes. Bicycle users can get a map made jointly with the University in the Town Hall. Using it they can look up information about the bike network, the registration system or the location of the parking lots. The last initiative of the Town Hall has been the signing of the Brussels Charter. This way, Vitoria-Gasteiz makes a commitment to promote local policies to integrate the bicycle mobility in the transportation system, reaching a 15% in the modal split in 2020.
Author: Juan Carlos Escudero
