Although it has the largest bike path network in the country in terms of absolute numbers, at 737 km, São Paulo only ranks eighth in the ranking of capitals when comparing the size of each city’s road network.
Exclusive bike lanes represent only 3.7% of the total number of streets and roads in the capital, São Paulo, according to the survey conducted by Aliança Bike (Brazilian Association of the Bicycle Sector) and released on Thursday (4/12).
The association provides for the first time a classification that takes into account the proportion of bicycle paths in relation to the road network. To this end, data obtained through the LAI were matched to a survey conducted using OpenStreetMap.
18 photos
Conditional closure.
1 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropoles2 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropoles3 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropoles4 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropoles5 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis6 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis 7 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis8 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis9 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis10 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis11 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis12 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis13 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis14 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis15 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis16 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis 17 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis 18 of 18
Bicycle path in Sao Paulo
William Cardoso/Metropolis
First place in the ranking of capitals with the highest percentage of bicycle paths goes to Fortaleza (CE), which has 8.3% of its road network dedicated exclusively to bicycles. Followed by El Salvador with 7.1%. According to Aliança Bike CEO, Luiz Saldanha, it will be important for each city to have at least 10% of separate routes for bicycles.
See the ranking of the ten most compatible with the road networkthe
- Fortaleza (CE): 8.3%
- Salvador (Bachelor): 7.1%
- Florianópolis (SC): 6.9%
- Vitoria (Spain): 5.4%
- Belem (Palestinian Authority): 4.9%
- Recife (PE): 4.5%
- Aracaju (Southeast): 4.3%
- São Paulo (SP): 3.7%
- Federal District: 3.4%
- Joao Pessoa (PB): 3.0%
It is worth noting that Fortaleza has a total road network of about 6,000 km. The capital, São Paulo, has nearly 20,000 kilometers of streets and roads.
See the top ten rankings in absolute numbers
- Sao Paulo (SP): 737 km
- Federal District: 626.5 km
- Fortaleza (CE): 477.6 km
- Rio de Janeiro (RJ): 319.4 km
- Salvador (BA): 308.59 km
- Florianópolis (SC): 160.58 km
- Curitiba (PR): 155.73 km
- Belem (Pennsylvania): 150.58 km
- Recife (PE): 132.25 km
- Belo Horizonte (MG): 116.28 km
reference
When “São Paulo makes a move, the whole of Brazil always stops and looks to see how things are going,” says Luiz Saldanha, CEO of Aliança Bike. In this sense, it is important to maintain the growth rate of the cycling network in the capital, São Paulo.
Saldanha states that the expansion of bike paths in São Paulo has declined, when comparing the São Paulo capital with other large cities that made significant progress in the period analysed, such as Fortaleza and Brasília.
“It is a warning sign so that we can observe whether growth will continue to decline in the coming years or whether there will be an increase, whether it will grow again as before to achieve the goals they (São Paulo City Council) set.”
The Mobility Plan (PlanMob) expects the creation of 1,800 kilometers of bicycle paths by 2028 in São Paulo, a not very feasible goal given what the city council has presented so far, already at the end of the first year of the second term of Ricardo Nunes (MDB).
Beyond numbers
A citizens’ audit was conducted by council member Renata Falzone (PSB) on bike paths in São Paulo this year and highlighted a series of problems with the already installed cycling infrastructure in the capital. More than 100 volunteers traveled through the network over a period of six months.
Among the findings, the review found that 17% of the sections were wider than expected in the traffic engineering company’s urban signage guide. Horizontal signs were considered to be in unstable or very poor condition by 18%.
In some parts of the city, the bike path becomes “cycloline”, as in Rua Butanta, near the corner of Eugenio de Medeiros, on the side of the Bernardo Goldfarb Bridge, in Pinheiros.
This is a short section There are signs indicating a bike path towards the centre, but there is only a small piece of bike path towards Ciclopassarela Jornalista Erika Sallum, on the evidence of the uneven pavement. Delivery driver Ray Soares da Silva, 21, passes by the place often and regrets it. “This is a shame,” he says.
Delivery driver Vinicius Soares, 27, also travels frequently around the Avenida Paulista area and says it would be practically impossible to deliver there if there was no bike lane in the area.
Soares reveals the differences between affluent neighborhoods in the capital, São Paulo, and its suburbs, which also affects urban mobility.
The comparison between Paulista and the area where he lives, in Parque América, close to the Interlagos race track, is unequal. “Here (in Paulista), the quality is not the same as there. It is no longer excellent, so imagine what it is like in our area,” he says.
Bike paths and bike lanes make up the study
Although it mentions bike paths, which is the more common term, the study takes into account both these paths and bike lanes, as discreet structures for bicycle circulation. This is the course network.
According to Annex I of the Brazilian Traffic Law, a bicycle path is “a designated path designated for bicycle circulation, physically separated from general traffic.”
Read also
-
Sao Paulo
The city on the SP coast has the largest bike path by the sea. Find out which ones
-
Sao Paulo
City Hall cancels notice for construction of 158 kilometers of bike paths in SP
-
Sao Paulo
SP Chamber approves Nunes project franchising bicycle paths
-
Sao Paulo
Nunes’ project launches concessions for bike paths and sports centers
A bike lane is “a portion of a road designated exclusively for the circulation of bicycles, and designated by specific signs.”
For example, Aliança Bike states that bicycle paths can have, among other things, dividing rails and even a different height of the road where other vehicles pass.
In contrast, bike lanes are on the same road as vehicles, and are painted and equipped with spikes, markings, and signs that designate the exclusive space for bicycles.