"Cycloroutes improve economic recovery": Nicolás Estupiñán

The forum "High-level international webinar on cycling" organized by the Luxembourg Ministry of Mobility and Public Labor and the World Resources Institute (WRI), brings together world leaders in the field of mobility to share their experiences in the face of an increased use of bicycles in their cities. In this year's version, they invited the Secretary of Mobility of Bogotá Nicolás Estupiñán to participate. Estupiñán shared the space and experiences with Ani Dasgupta, WRI Global Director; François Bausch, Minister of Mobility of Luxembourg; David Belliard deputy mayor of Paris; Mikael Colville-Andersen, expert urban designer; Dagmawit Moges, Minister of Transport of Ethiopia and Philippe Henry Minister of Climate, Infrastructure, Energy and Mobility of Wallonia in Belgium. The moderator was Claudia Adriazola-Steil, WRI's director of road health and safety. The first intervention was done by Andi Dasgupta from the World Resources Institute, who spoke about the effects of the pandemic in cities and how COVID-19 is urban centric. Then, he clarified the purpose of the forum, which was to discuss the lessons from the pandemic in terms of sustainable mobility. David Bellard, deputy mayor of Paris, spoke afterwards, explaining how this city was conceived for the mobilization of cars until mobility began to be rethought in response to many obstacles in terms of health, climate change and security. The next intervention was from Mikael Colville-Andersen, an expert in urban mobility, who presented a mobility strategy based on the bicycle, "For a long time we have asked ourselves, How many cars can we fit on a street? When the question we should be asking is How many PEOPLE can fit on a street? We have to overcome the arrogance of planning thinking only about what cars need ”. In it´s turn, Bogotá's mobility secretary Nicolás Estupiñán spoke about the sustainable mobility bets in the Colombian capital and how the bicycle has taken a central role, “Bicycle trips doubled during the pandemic, which went from being a 6% of trips in the city to 13%", he emphasized the benefits derived from their use,"Bicycle routes improve economic recovery because people not only go from A to B, but also the bicycle provides the opportunity to use the public space. "He cited the Carrera Séptima Green Corridor project as an example of this potential for economic reactivation, since people, in addition to moving around, can more easily stop and shop in the shops that border the bicycle corridors. At the end of the event, the following summary of the most important points of the meeting was made: 1. The pandemic has impacted the poorest populations much more. 2. It has put on the table the relevance of implementing mobility strategies focused on the use of bicycles and their benefits in the short, medium and long term in terms of health, equality and sustainability for cities. 3. The ability to walk and bike is connected to the safety of each city. In this exchange of experiences, it was possible to show how Bogotá's sustainable mobility strategy is in line with the strategies that are being implemented in cities around the world to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. To read this note in spanish, click here.