Bogota residents take note: it has been officially proven that the fastest way to get around the city is not by car, or even the Transmilenio, but by bicycle.
A study was carried out to see which method of transportation allowed commuters to arrive the quickest to their destination: by car, by bus, by Transmilenio extra-fast bus system, or by bike. All “competitors” left from the corner of 85th Street and 15th Avenue at 7AM, with the goal of arriving 9.2 kilometers away at the University of the Andes.
The biker arrived in 25 minutes and 7 seconds, followed by the driver in 35 minutes and 2 seconds. The bus rider took 40 minutes and 32 seconds, and the Transmilenio rider 1 hour, 1 minute and 25 seconds. All participants were equipped with a BlackBerry to track their movements precisely by GPS.
The bike rider stated, “The theory remains confirmed that bikes don’t contaminate, are fast, and keep one in shape.”
Bogota was in April named the world’s third-most bike-friendly city by Bicycling magazine, after Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The city closes almost 75 miles of roads to cars every Sunday, called the Ciclovia, when pedestrians, cyclists and joggers have a free run of much of the city center.