A system that provides bicycles for the public in Colombia’s capital city Bogota has failed to achieve city wide success, due to poor planning and a rushed implementation process, according to newspaper El Tiempo.
The bike system, known as Bicibog, intends to provide Bogota locals with a acess to free public bicycles that would allow them to move freely around the city.
Although the pilot project received positive feedback and is generally considered to be a great initiative, shortcomings in the execution of the project have meant that, in the first trial week of the project, the number of users was less than expected, with some areas of the city being poorly represented.
According to the director of a Bogota citizens project called Human City, “there is no technical capacity or planning. In Medellin for example they developed the prototype of a traffic friendly bicycle with the help of experts.”
The style of the bikes being used in Bogota are allegedly inadequate for the intensity of the traffic in the capital while the designated cycle routes failed to provide full access to certain areas of the city.
The idea behind the project was to relieve the pressure on roads in Bogota in a way that would be sustainable, healthy, and link in to the Integrated Public Transport System, of which Transmilenio forms a part.
The trial period of the project will continue until November 18.
