BCSicletos Colectivo de Ciclismo Urbano
The Pitch
To connect surrounding urban areas to La Paz’s city center, BCSicletos Colectivo de Ciclismo Urbano improved clean mobility options and air quality in La Paz by expanding bike paths and making them safer.
The Problem
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, cars were the main mode of transportation in La Paz. The city’s over-reliance on cars led to air pollution (a health hazard for residents), high costs, and limited opportunities for active mobility.
The Process
- Built a bike path along the Malecón-Centro boardwalk, one of the most iconic and visited places in the city
- Constructed a linear park for sports
- Reclaimed an abandoned public space and community center
- Established a neighborhood assembly and built up the public management capacity of neighborhood leaders, creating channels of communication and trust
- Partnered with city and state officials to achieve an investment of 2.6 million pesos in safe bicycle infrastructure to establish the city’s first bike rental system
- Works with the Mexican Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development on the development of a federal plan for clean transportation
The Impact
- Influenced the creation of a citywide cycling mobility plan that will connect La Paz’s urban center with 33 communities outside of the city
- Provides access to bikes for 22,000 residents
- Reduces the carbon footprint of La Paz by reducing car usage and increasing cycling
- Reduces the cost of mobility for residents along new bike paths
- Improves public health and air quality
- Improves access to the city center for residents living in urban peripheries
- Increases the ability of fishing communities to monitor seeded bivalves and protect mollusks from poaching without worrying about the cost of gasoline to transport themselves there
- Catalyzes institutional change by advising municipal, state and legislative administrations to reform traffic regulations to protect cyclists
