As part of the XV Bicycle Week, Bogotá's public bicycle sharing system began operating, providing citizens with a new sustainable mobility option to get around the city.
Several cities around the world have bike sharing systems and now Bogotá has joined this important list, as highlighted by the UK Ambassador to Colombia, George Hodgson. "Welcome to the bike share city club! I congratulate you on this new stage of growth and development," he said.
The Embassy of the United Kingdom provided support in the technical, legal, and financial structuring of the business model for the bike sharing system, under the Climate Leadership in Cities (CLIC) program of the C40 Cities Network's CFF funding mechanism.
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"We are very proud of the UK's involvement in the design and development of this concept as part of the partnership with the city. We still have other cooperative interventions in sustainability projects such as the Medio Milenio Ciclo Alameda, which Bogotá residents will soon be able to enjoy," said the Ambassador.
In the following tweet, we share Ambassador Hodgson's testimony in which he congratulates the city for this great achievement:
George Hodgson, embajador británico, celebró con nosotros el estreno del Sistema de #BicisCompartidas🚴🏻
— Alcaldía de Bogotá (@Bogota) October 1, 2022
Reino Unido nos compartió sus experiencias sobre este sistema y también aprenderá de Bogotá como capital mundial de la bici para entregar a los usuarios el mejor servicio🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/LRm8MrzmyO
The company in charge of implementing and managing the system is Tembici, a leading Brazilian organization in micromobility with presence a in 14 cities in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and now Colombia. Since 2010, Tembici has been responsible for more than 70 million trips and logged more than 265 million kilometers pedaled.
On the realization of this project, Tomas Martins, CEO of Tembici, highlighted the work of international cooperation and the leadership of Bogotá to realize what had been no more than a dream. "It was key not only to align with the District Government but also with other partners who share, as we do, this strong purpose," he said.
Also present at the launch event was C40 Senior Advisor, Manuel Olivera, who expressed his enthusiasm for the development and success of projects with the city that are positioning it as a global example to be followed. "It is Bogotá's commitment to climate action and to shifting to more sustainable modes of transportation that positions it from an international viewpoint and encourages more cities to act," he explained.
Also present was the representative of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ, as per the acronym in German), Alejandro Ceballos, who emphasized the importance of international partnerships in the development of sustainable projects.
For Ceballos, the work with the Secretariat of Mobility was key in shaping this project that will benefit citizens by making economic use of public space, that is, making the best use of the resources the city already has.
The bike-sharing system will be offered in the boroughs of Usaquén, Chapinero, Barrios Unidos, Santa Fe and La Candelaria, where it will have 30 managers on the road to attend to any user's concerns. In addition, 300 bicycle workshops have been set up for free use by all citizens.
It is also expected that this system will not only benefit local citizens, but also all those visitors who are come to Bogotá so that they will have an easier, more comfortable, and environmentally friendly option to move around and enjoy all that the Colombian capital has to offer.
