SEVILLE, Spain - The successful establishment of a complete system of cycling infrastructures by the City Government of Seville has led the European Cyclist Federation (ECF) to select this Spanish city in hosting the 2011 edition of Velo-city.
In just three years the Infrastructures for Sustainability department, a part of the Seville City Council with their Steering Plan for Bicycles (2007-2010), created a fully segregated cycle tracks system of more than 120 km length, ten folding the daily cycle usage, from 6,000 to 60,000 trips a day. This means that almost 7% of all journeys with a vehicle are made by bicycle today and 30% of these ‘new’ cyclists actually switched from their cars despite the hot weather in this city of 1.5 million inhabitants. And as research shows - many use one of the 2500 SEVicirental rental bikes (www.sevici.es/) provided by the JC Decaux system.
In effect, this ranks Seville as the city with the highest use (+25.000 trips a day) of a rental bike fleet, topping in all of the other 63 city locations that currently offer the rental bike system.
Seville has become an extraordinary point of reference on a worldwide scale for cities without a tradition of cycling as a means of urban transport, showing that a rapid and efficient transformation of mobility behaviour is possible. The combination of the above-mentioned factors that are currently in place in Seville creates a successful formula for other cities across the world to follow and benchmark their own ambitious plans to change mobility patterns.
“The theme areas for Velo-city 2011 will be centering on the overall goal on how the bicycle can be introduced as a means of transport in cities, making them healthier to live in and improving general quality of life”, says Bernhard Ensink, Series Director Velo-city and Secretary General of ECF. “Many examples will be shared on how to change mobility habits and increase the use of bicycles. And how public investment can contribute to sustainable mobility, and how greater use of the bicycle can therefore contribute to the economy and social wellbeing - in short - enhancing quality of life in cities.”
For more on Velo-city 2011, click here
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