Bicistema: Bicycle Transport system and services integration
Bicistema: Bicycle Transport system and services integration
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Solution proposed by:
Bicistema participation include the 1st prize of urban and regional design by Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos (Colombian Society of Architecture) at the 13th Annual of architecture and urban design, 2013, and Best project of Architecture by the Univers
In a Nutshell:
Bogotá is adapting the bicycle as alternative transportation. Bicistema aims to provide designing bicycle
stations a series of incorporated facilities to promote cycling as a complete and convenient transport
system, with amongst others a bike secure parking, changing facilities, public transport services, and
green areas, for those arriving by bicycle.
Where and When:
It is a proposal for the municipality of Bogota (Colombia) but it is exportable to other contexts.
Nowadays Bicistema participate on the ciudadesparatodos.org this call aims to support citizens' actions
that match the World Bike Forum: self-managed high-impact proposals that positively affect urban
mobility in cities.
Challenges:
Bogota has high demand for urban travel resulting from daily activities; they generate congestion,
accidents and pollution, affecting its competitiveness and quality of life of its inhabitants. A strategic
change in mobility model to alternative sustainable transport systems such as the bicycle is necessary.
The city has the largest network of cycle routes on the continent (410 km), serving to increase 30% from
2011 to 2015 cycling, reaching 670,000 daily trips. The need for improving the network of cycle routes
and demand of secure bike parking has grown proportionally.
Innovation:
Bicistema proposes a strategic partnership between private car parking and Bicistema in order to
implement the construction of bicycle stations. It aims to create spaces that are friendly to the use of
bicycles as alternative transportation: (I) providing additional services demanded by commuters and the
community (basic tools to repair bicycles and lockers); (II) boosting the coexistence between actors of
mobility in the city (parking owners, owners of vehicles and bicycles users); (III) promoting multimodal
transport; (IV) fostering citizen participation in public space because its design is based on reuse and
recycling.
Concept:
In the past decade, bicycle has taken a place as an alternative means of transportation around the
world. It has the potential of becoming quite an efficient way of transportation in cities like Bogotá. This
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Colombian city has a predominantly flat topography, and the weather conditions are ideal for
commuting from one place to another by bike, thus allowing for a continuous urban structure, ideal for
the use of such means of transportation. Bike lanes network consolidation and bicycle station designs
would promote the bicycle as an active means of transportation, concentrating useful services for
commuters. Moreover, this would enhance the livability of a city by making it more pleasant, healthier
and more sustainable for everyone. However transportation, just like all other government matters,
must be including into this picture, and must reflect the needs of all citizens, especially the most
vulnerable ones: pedestrians and cyclists.
Description:
Mobility plan proposal
A sustainable mobility plan will be implemented that includes an extensive, accessible and cohesive
cycling network. This is a tool for urban planning and reflection on the existing urban structure and
urban growth in the city, through the recognition of inefficiencies in the supply of current transport and
mobility, the diagnosis of the mobility study relevant to the place governing the guidelines and criteria
under which will set out the objectives, strategies and units of action on this plan.
Plan Objectives
• Promote cycling infrastructure and multimodal integration between bicycles and public transport.
• Define and consolidate bike lanes network as a complete and cohesive transport system infrastructure
• Reduce motorized traffic, decrease transit casualties and road congestion
• Improve and implement appropriate public space conditions, creating harmony between pedestrians,
cyclists, and drivers
• Make bicycling a safe, easy, fun and cool transport choice for everyone.
Strategies
• Integrate with bicycle stations a series of incorporated facilities for bicycle use as a transport system
(Secure bike parking-Bike repair services-Bike sharing system-Bike)
• Concentrate in bicycle stations complementary services that generate daily short trips (Local business,
public and local services, public space generation)
• Develop and test a new way of services integration, towards a new city model.
Urban plan proposal
The urban proposal is projected under the Mobility Plan Proposal’s guidelines, where the intervention
considers the existing bike lanes in the area as the formal basis for work. The continuation of the
aforementioned is projected under new bicycle infrastructural constructions in order.
Impacts:
(I) Increasing trips by bicycle to the selected sector: 100,000 currently, within the network of 2,500 bikeparking
spread over 17 Transmilenio BRT stations), implementing Bicistema promotes a modal shift to
cycling, especially in social classes who do not regularly use the bike;
(II) Reducing the negative impact on security and safety due to stolen bicycles and accidents: 900
reports incidents last year;
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(III) Adding to other policies such as the alternative public transport and metro network, Bogota will
reduce road traffic by 20 % for short-haul trips daily.