One Of the Worlds Most Bike-Friendly Cities
Without doubt cycling is the most enjoyable form of moving around Buenos Aires. When it feels like the traffic of the city turns rather anarchic, its more than feasible to enter it with only two wheels. In fact, you both get to know the neighborhoods and getting around congested areas quicker, as opposed to catching the bondi (bus). No more bottlenecks, squeezing in to crowded coupes in the Subte and gasping for air. No more running around to find a place to refill you transport card or waiting for buses without timetables. Above all, going bicycling means seeing the beautiful city from front row, exploring new streets and shops and finding the amusement of biking under the many blossoms trees.
Bicycling takes you everywhere. And it is absolutely pollution-free.
The new poster child for bicycle
In Baires, the community of bicycles has sky-rocket since 2010. “I dream of a Buenos Aires inundated with bikes”, the then chief of city government Mauricio Macri said (now president, since December 2015) and launched his ciclovía initiative. As of today, the city has over 130 km of bicycle lanes and it is due to reach 158 km this year. The terrain is mostly flat and the gran majority of the streets are one directional.
The Danish Copenhagen Index, listed Buenos Aires at 14th place of the world’s most bike-friendly cities in 2015.
“In a shockingly short amount of time, Buenos Aires has succeeded in modernizing itself to include bicycles as transport. In the past three years, over 140 km of bicycle infrastructure has been implemented,” the judges argued calling Buenos Aires “the new poster child for bicycle urbanism”. They also added that the bike-lines is a work-in-progress, and that “many of the protected bike lanes are narrow” not made on the best part of the asphalt.
Be aware when cycling, in other words. “Ojó”, as the porteños say.
Free Bikes
My best tips is to buy you own bike when living in Buenos Aires, but with a bit more coordination you can also use the free bicycles of the city. There are more than 80 bike rental stations around the city, called Eco Bici available 24/7.
You register here on this page, and when having the bicycle you get up to one hour before you need to deliver the bike in an another station of the city.
Another bike experience to try out in Baires is the Masa Critica, or Critical Mass. On the first Sunday every month, the many enthusiastic bicyclers of Buenos Aires gathers at the Obelisco at 4pm. The bikes take over the streets to celebrate cycling.
Health benefits
Just to elaborate a bit more for the curious: A study from the centre for environmental policy at Imperial College London in 2016, found that the health benefits of cycling and walking outweigh the disadvantage of inhaling polluted air inn all except the world’s most polluted cities. Only 1 % of the cities in the world have so high levels of pollution in the air that crossing the city outside could make you heath worse. When it comes to traffic jams, Buenos Aires is listed in 19th place, behind Los Angeles (12th) and Rio de Janeiro (8th) in the Tomtom traffic index, measuring congestion worldwide. Not too strange taking into account that Buenos Aires is the 15th biggest urban area in the world with 15 million people, according to United Nations Population Division. To be added here, this is the whole province of Buenos Aires, in the city center there are only 3 million inhabitants (2010).
Enjoy your ride!
