Muévete en bici etc

Yesterday was my third time participating in Muévete en bici, Mexico City's car free Sunday.  This event has been going on for eight years here in Mexico City, aka DF (distrito federal) and draws some 50,000 people who ride, jog, roller blade, walk over 55km of car free streets each Sunday, the third largest in the world. 

Some observations about Ecobici, the bike share system here in DF that I have been using for several years now. 

 



























Fundamentally it's a treasure.  It's the largest bike share system in North America and expanding every year.  With thousands of bikes and hundreds of stations, it provides short term access to a bike in a large part of this huge city.  For me, it's liberation, the ability to cover a lot of territory easily and quickly under my own power, at my own speed.  Yes, there's a good transit system but it gets extremely crowded and, for getting around the central part of the city, a bike is usually faster.  And there's something a little oppressive about being underground on the subway; a feeling of confinement, nowhere to look, trying not to make eye contact.  Not that you could really say that cycling here gets you out into the fresh air.  There ain't no fresh air here.  And that leads to the downsides of Ecobici many of which are truthfully not a reflection of the bike system but of the traffic.   Drivers here are terrible: aggressive, inconsiderate, proudly oblivious to the rules and downright dangerous.  There have been efforts to address this situation and the DF version of the motor vehicle act has been changed in an attempt to address this, probably owing to the numerous cyclist and pedestrian deaths.  I found cycling in Chaing Mai comparatively calm despite seeming chaos.  In addition, the condition of the roads in DF is appalling.  As is the condition of probably 50% of the bikes and much of the Ecobici infrastructure.  Seats don't adjust, gears don't work, many bike lanes are in deplorable condition and often blocked.

 

















It's allegedly possible to sign up short-tern for the system at many of the 
stations but, after spending a long time poking at a little screen with no success, I wound up going through a lengthy sign up process at one of the two Ecobici offices.  Without going on further I'll end by saying that I'm glad the system is here and I'll continue to use it extensively but hope that there are improvements in both the system and the behaviour of motorists.  But ultimately, a part of me suspects that both are a reflection of the culture.