ARTICLE FROM THE BOOK:
Cyclists & Cycling Around the World – Creating Liveable
andBikeable
CitiesCyclists& Cycling
Aroundthe World
Edited by Juan Carlos Dextre, Mike Hughes & Lotte Bech
Published by Fondo Editorial, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2013
ISBN: 978-612-4146-55-8

Cycle Promotion Campaigns - Getting
people to pedal in Guadalajara.
Carlos Romero Sánchez, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.
Urban technical consultant.

Historically, the metropolis of Guadalajara has been an ideal city for nonmotorised transport, due to climatic conditions, abundant trees and its friendly
topography. Most of this is flat, with slopes that do not go beyond 5%, withover 60 thousand hectares and very low population density, which on average does
not exceed 60 people per hectare. A high percentage of the population lives within
15 kilometers from the city center metro about 40 or 50 minutes by bike.
As in many cities worldwide, there has been an excessive use of a single meansof transport -the private car - usually with a single occupant, which has also beenfavoured with a disproportionate investment in infrastructure.
Guadalajara is aiming at a modal balance in the public space, where each modeof transport has the space, investment and infrastructure, according to theirdemand and capacity. This aim is based not on a feeling of pity, but for thedignity of users. The mobility of disabled people, pedestrians and cyclists should
be prioritised, rather than mass transit and cars in general, in response to theneeds of future generations.
In order to share some of the most important efforts which have been and are being
made in Guadalajara, I present a summary of the actions, the vast majority of whichhave been made ​​possible by the committed involvement of citizens who want toenjoy the capital of Jalisco, through the use of bicycles as an efficient means of daily
mobility. The city bike is the best form of transport due to topographic and climaticconditions in this part of the Mexican Republic.

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Pedaling for
Guadalajara“Vía RecreActiva”
Without doubt, “Vía RecreActiva” Sunday marked a before and after as far as“Urban Mobility” goes. Since its inception, with 11km, on September 12, 2004, it has
become the only street that is metropolitan in the whole of Mexico. Some isolated
initiatives covering cycling infrastructure in the city (La Paz Avenue and LaurelAvenue) had been taken before this. Sunday closing of one of the most iconic roadarteries of the city, which now has more than 60 km and 400,000 users on averageeach week, represents more than a car-free public space: it characterises a true
symbol of social cohesion, recognition of the “other” as an equal and non-motorised
transport as legitimate actors in the road network, largely transcending the field ofmobility up to a socio-cultural spectrum.
In Guadalajara, there are more than 400,000 users in general, beating the 200,000
riders each Sunday on the bikeway RecreActiva; 7,000 take an evening stroll; thereare seven weekly public tours; there is leadership and active participation in theNational Network of Urban Cycling, a city ​​council for non-motorised mobility and1500 kilometers of a network of cycle routes in the Master Plan on Non-motorised
Urban Mobility.
“Via RecreActiva” was possible thanks to the efforts of a group of local businessmenand concerned citizens who formed the civil partnership Guadalajara 20:20. By
corporate management, they convinced the mayor of the city of Guadalajara toundertake the adventure of giving a human face to the streets. Learning frominternational experiences “Public Cities,” they replicated it in our capital city.

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Cyclists & Cycling Around the World

Sunday closing Via
Recre-Activa

Master Plan on Non-motorised Urban Mobility for the Metropolitan
Area of Guadalajara​​(AMG).
There is an important example of the realisation of this master plan, which is the“Proposal for bicycle mobility network for the metropolitan area of ​​Guadalajara CEJITDP,” which had the support of Hewlett-Packard, and was made in August 2008.
Thanks to the participation of hundreds of concerned citizens, coordinated by alocal firm and advised by prestigious international organisations (8-80 cities, Alta
Planning and ITDP), the Master Plan on non-motorised mobility in the metropolitan
area of ​​Guadalajara was published in February 2010. Its main objectives are to:• Promote a sustainable urban mobility policy that gives priority to pedestrians andcyclists rather than motor transport.
• Develop a network of pedestrian and cycle routes to be supported by a sustainableurban mobility system for AMG.
• Create design standards for pedestrian and cycle networks in metropolitan andlocal implementation, through a Manual of Design for Pedestrian and Bicycle.
• Meet the needs of accessibility, with transportation access which is safe, fair,inclusive and respectful of the environment.

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• Promote non-motorised mobility among the greatest number of citizens, civilorganisations, institutions and companies.
The proposed pedestrian and bicycle network for the AMG has a length of 1,570
km and consists of the following infrastructure: 15 metropolitan corridors covering
approximately 360 km and 26 areas of preferential access distributed among 8municipalities with a radius of 1.5km each.

Civil Society Organisations
Every day, more civic structures are promoting urban use of bicycles as a means oftransport. These range from cultural themes such as “To the Theatre by Bike” or “RollingHouse” to many others who do it for the pleasure of riding and building a better city, suchas “City for All” and “Bike GDL.” Some have more place in universities and schools such as“100cias”, “BiciTec” and “Mobility for Development”.
In addition to these initiatives, the following can be found:• Jalisco Ecological Collective CEJ• Bike 10• White Bike
• BKT bicipública• Fijalara• Citizenship Movement Proposal• Block• Collective Tricycle• Managing the human• The other faces of the city
• Jalisco as we go• Red Tree
• Move you by your city
• Plan-V• 2020 Gdl• Femibici

Metropolitan Platform for Sustainability
This is a horizontal space of civic organizations interested in promoting thesustainability of Guadalajara. Created in 2008 under the name of “Citizens’Council for Sustainable Mobility”, it managed the Master Plan on Non-motorised
Urban Mobility for the Metropolitan Area of ​​Guadalajara and, in coordination withneighbours and entrepreneurs, opposed the construction of an elevated urban
highway called “Route Express”.

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Metropolitan Platform consists of civil society groups with different backgrounds,objectives, methodologies and subjects, but all with the same concern for asustainable, accessible, close, efficient, prosperous, fair and democratic city.
Work to achieve the consolidation of the ideal city, is based on the “Declaration ofGuadalajara”, which contains not only the principles underlying the urge to change
the city, but the specific actions and agenda of work that brings us together.
It integrates the following civil society organizations:• Center for Applied Technology infotectura and AC (CITA)• City for All• Jalisco Ecological Collective, B.C. (CEJ)• Collective Tricycle• Urban Block• How We Jalisco. Citizen monitoring of quality of life
• The Other Face of the City A.C.
• Proposal Citizen Movement, B.C.
• Move around your city A.C.
• Plan-V• Red Tree

National Network of Urban Cycling BiciRed
In Mexico, cycling associations in various cities have been organised on a non-profit
basis, to share success stories and experiences in our country covering proper and safe
mobility for cyclists, pedestrians and other users of non-motorised means of mobility
in the streets, roads or country lanes. They include movements of urban cyclists whoencourage the use of bicycles as a means of urban mobility as a counterbalance to theproblems that afflict society in the environmental, economic, social and health areas.
Each year it convenes for this purpose and this year will celebrate the fifth meeting in thecity of Oaxaca, in addition to conducting two camps.
The objectives of the BiciRed are sharing information, coordinating and promoting
activities and initiatives of members in order to achieve their goals in the areas thateach sees fit, and thus more effectively promote adequate and safe mobility of cyclists,
pedestrians and other users of non-motorised means of mobility in the streets, roads
or trails in the country, and / or encourage the use of bicycles as a means of mobility inMexico. All this by:• Promoting responsible and safe use of bicycles as a means of transport, a goal that isclosely related to the overall goal of non-motorised mobility (pedestrians, people271

with disabilities and users of other non-motorised means of mobility), promoting
recreational and sport of cycling, and recovery and improvement of public spaces.
• Achieving recognition of bicycles as a vehicle of public and national interest, with rights
and responsibilities like other vehicles on public roads in cities and on roads, highways
and trails in the country.
• Building capacity and strengthening promotion and management of all participatingorganisations to achieve their local goals and serving as a space for organising, planningand coordination to raise and achieve national goals.
• Promoting regulatory changes, and budgetary and technical projects, affecting the
public policies adopted at federal, state and local level, promoting safe and adequate
mobility and cycling and, in general, non-motorised forms of transport.
• Proposing and promoting public policies to create and improve road and urban
infrastructure, to ensure proper and safe mobility and accessibility for cyclists andpedestrians.
• Encouraging the various governments in the country to take into account citizens’
initiatives that promote cycling and non-motorised means of mobility and generating
coexistence among equals, and including as a priority in government plans a roadinfrastructure for cyclists and other non-motorised means of mobility, linked with all of
the entities of the country.
• Promoting intermodal cycling with other means of mobility.
• Seeking to improve the quality of public space and a suitable environment in Mexican cities.
• Gaining more and more supporters and bicycle users, through advocacy, information,education and developing public awareness of the individual and social benefits ofcycling, and the negative effects of indiscriminate use of the car.

Towards Carfree Cities 2011 MX car-free
In September 2011, Guadalajara became the headquarters of the “Tenth International
Conference Towards Car Free Cities”, an event that brings together the best experiences
and challenges in making cities increasingly independent of cars. This event wasinitiated by the World Carfree Network, through local activist organisations like City for
All and Bike GDL A. C. With an uncompromising commitment to sustainable mobility,272

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Organized groupsof civil society

the “Declaration of Guadalajara for Sustainable Mobility” was made, which develops asunderlying principles in urban terms that the city becomes “accessible and close” and“prosperous and efficient”, in social terms becomes “democratic and equitable” and inenvironmental terms becomes “sustainable.”
It is required that an immediate moratorium be declared on any piece of infrastructure
for motor vehicles, that the irrational growth of the urban area be stopped, that at least
30% of the metropolitan fund budget be allocated to pedestrian and bicycle mobility. Asa sign of peaceful and purposeful activation, there is an urgent call to action to each of ourauthorities and actors involved in city development and management of mobility with thegood intention of carrying out the following over the short, medium and long term:• Ensuring accessibility for the most vulnerable• Promoting urban proximity• Stopping the unnecessary growth of urban areas• Prioritising investment in sustainable means of mobility• Discouraging car use and ensuring the management of traffic demand• Promoting proactive and participatory mechanisms and promoting publicconsultation projects.
The signatories of this statement reflect a growing social outcry that is increasingly popularwith civil society in other cities and countries, academics, specialists, businessmen, andwith women and men who want to live in a city worthy of the name.

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September 2011

UNIVA Bike Ride
In 2010, the first bike ride MOVILIZATE was held with students at the University UNIVA
Atemajac Valley. So far, there have been three trips a year. This tour is a fun exercise,whose main objective is to enable young students from the largest private school in
the city, of an appropriate age choose the way to be transported. More than 1,000 highschool students participate in this event. These students perform various activities about
non-motorised mobility, which includes a 10km cycle route, whose highlights are theMetropolitan Park, the iconic square of the colony Chapalita and the same university as
their trip starts from and ends.

Network Cyclist in GDL (cycle guide)
It has prepared a document that contains each of the facilities cyclists in the metropolitan
area of Guadalajara might need, in order to identify their type, location and number inorder to promote their use.

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Cycle walk
MOVILÍZATE” UNIVA

Bkt bicipública
The independent company BKT, with its own resources, is remarkable. It has involved theenthusiastic collaboration of various kinds of businesses, such as restaurants, cafés, small
hotels and schools which, through financial payment and the presentation of a credential
which is provided through a symbolic annual payment, facilitate this extraordinarymeans of transport.
Carlos romero Sanchez
c@carlosromerosanchez.com

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