Skip to main content

Kids on Bikes: Bicibus in Barcelona's Eixample

             Photo credit: Patricia Alvarez @patalgar 

The image of kids riding their bike to school in a big city is highly inspiring. Kids on bikes. Together in a group, going to school. Pedalling together along city streets, each on their own, yet together in unison.  Yesterday we saw images of the first Bicibus in the Eixample grid of Barcelona (see here or here).  You can think of BiciBus as a sort of critical mass for kids going to school. This was not the first Bicibus in Barcelona, that honor goes to the group in Sarrià, and yet the first group in the Eixample somehow feels like a turning point. If we can insert kids on bikes here, we can do it anywhere. 

@BicibusEixmaple is an experiment that we should all be watching closely. Until recently, most #BiciBus projects have been in smaller towns, with bikable streets and distances that are amenable to cycling school commutes for kids and parents. In the suburbs, one can imagine asking kids to bike to school together in a group to increase safety and convenience of the parents who need to drive in another direction. 

But can the BiciBus model be successfully adopted in a city? On streets with so many vehicles? What are the special considerations and needs of a BiciBus project in a highly dense and urban environment? Is the temporary conquest of city streets by kids riding their bike to school a merely symbolic and temporary victory? Might it be only an inspiring image to share on social media? Or is it more than that? Can the BiciBus experience transform the way children see the city, see themselves and the transportation choices in the future? What are the long lasting impacts of a Bicibus experience? If 10-11 year olds participate in the Bicibus today, later in life might they be more likely to own a bike? Might they be more likely to become an urban cyclist? What are the short term and long term impacts of participating in a collective urban cycling experience with other children? Can projects like Bicibus accelerate our transition to sustainable and healthier cities? We should all be working to watch and find out. 


Comments

  1. NickSeptember 19, 2022 at 11:37 AM

    It's very eye pleasing that kids are part of this also. I always support bike riding for the kids. Bike for kids now a days are very necessary. Before buying you have to cosider a lot of things as this is their first bike.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Gender Gap in Urban Cycling

What is the  gender gap in urban cycling and why is it a key indicator for an equitable and just city? We know that improving cycling infrastructure has become an essential best practice in urban planning - to reduce carbon emissions, to improve health, to slow the city down, to reduce air and noise pollution. But does everyone benefit equally from new bike lanes? If the dominant users are white males, are city investments reinforcing gender inequality? How do we estimate the proportion of female cyclists and bike lane users in a city and what can be done to reduce gender differences? What would a cycling network look like if it were designed by and for women? What types of bike lanes are better for women?  If planners were to incorporate a feminist perspective in the design of new cycling infrastructure, what would this look like? Thinking about gender equity in urban cycling policy and design opens a whole range of questions that urgently need to be addressed to create an e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Superilla Barcelona

The city of Barcelona has made an important step in their journey to become a greener city . The Mayor Ada Colau and her team announced the winners of the Superilla Barcelona  design competition for the street re-design of four streets in the Eixample grid: Consell de Cent, Compte Borrell, Rocafort and Girona - and the conversion of four vehicular intersection into green plazas. The protagonist of this transformation is Consell de Cent , a street 2.8 km in length aiming to be the pioneer green corridor, and the test be of ideas for a much wider transformation. With a budget of 37.8 million Euros, the immediate goal is to complete the green corridor on Consell de Cent and the four plazas by February 2023 - and yet the ambition is clearly wider.  As illustrated by the name of the project, Superilla Barcelona , this is not to be a one-off city greening project, rather they are talking about a new urban model for Barcelona's Eixample district, and a full overhaul of what it f...
Post a Comment
Read more