The bicycle borrowing system “ECOBICI. Mexico City is still a long way from being a bicycle-friendly city. But in recent years developments have taken place in this area. Nonetheless, it’s not enough to create a few kilometres of bicycle paths or just to make bicycles available. Inter-connected strategies are an important precondition for supporting bicycle transportation in Mexico City. To date, there have been some interesting approaches, which unfortunately are for the most part still limited to particular areas of the city, and thus for now are in use only by certain segments of the population.
A project that has gained attention beyond the country’s borders and has helped a few residents of the automobile megalopolis to switch to bicycles at least part of the time is “ECOBICI,” a state-sponsored borrowing system for bicycles, the first of its kind in Latin America. The bicycles can be borrowed from fully-automated stations for a maximum of 45 minutes per trip for the relatively modest fee of about 25€ per year.
This “individual transportation system,” as it is advertised, is well received. There are now 90 stations where bicycles can be borrowed and returned with a chip card. The borrowing system is conceived as a supplement to public transportation, for covering short or medium distances, as one can cover approx. 10 km in 45 minutes at normal speed.
The initial concern that bicycles world be stolen or damaged has fortunately not materialised. To date, not one bicycle has been stolen or a station damaged. At present, “ECOBICI” has approx. 30,000 registered users, who realise approx. 90,000 trips per week. These are all good reasons to expand the project – as is already being planned.
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Sebastian Moll 
