Seville has created an impressive network of safe cycle lanes covering 80 kms, transforming the city into the cycling capital of southern Europe.
The lanes traverse the old town over narrow lanes as well as the ringroad where they are segregated from traffic by both a kerb raised to pavement level and a waist-high fence.
People have taken to making journeys by bike in unprecedented numbers which have increased 11-fold in just a few years. This has taken many by surprise since only 1.6% of Spaniards use a bike as their main transport while 50% use a car, according to EU statistics.
In Seville only some 0.5% of trips were done by bike while the roads were choked with cars.
A tight group of campaigners started back in 1992 to lobby for better cycle access. It took a long time until deaf ears were opened when the 2003 elections brought in a United Left and Socialist coalition which authorised the project.
Separating cycle lanes from traffic by a physical barrier is critical in extending cycling to people of all ages, but it can attract opposition from others, such as motorists and businesses.
No one thought the project would be realised, so there was virtually no opposition. Many other cycle plans in Spain had come to nothing. A last ditch attempt to block the work only took place on the day construction began, but by then it was too late.
Even before the lanes were finished, cyclists took to them. And more kept coming. The average number of bikes used daily in the city jumped from some 6,000 to more than 70,000. Last year 6% of all trips were made by bike.
Seville’s bike hire scheme, SEVici, is linked in to public transport.
Spinoffs of the scheme include an increase in bike shops, some with courses to train unemployed people in the art of cycle mechanics, and a growth in electric cargo bikes replacing vans for delivering goods.
Seville has by far been the most progressive in its cycle scheme, but the Plan Andaluz de Bicicleta has seen nearly every city in Andalucia with more than 100,000 inhabitants agree to copy the plan, with working underway in Jerez, Algeciras and Almería.
