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Bicycles are an important a part of the Colombian id – ubiquitous, reasonably priced and, in some city communities, typically a quick strategy to get round.
No Colombian metropolis permits touring on two wheels greater than the capital Bogotá, the place the metropolitan space of practically 11 million inhabitants has no subway system and a few of the world's worst visitors jams.
In response to officers, there are greater than 1.1 million bicycles within the metropolis, and about 900,000 bicycle journeys are recorded per day. On Sundays and holidays, greater than 80 miles of main roads are closed, a convention that often attracts as much as two million individuals at a time.
“That is the DNA of this metropolis,” stated Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán.
However a variety of robberies and assaults on cyclists this 12 months have unsettled many riders in Bogotá. A latest information report estimated {that a} bicycle is stolen each 42 minutes within the capital and that cyclists have been focused by small gangs of thieves.
“Insecurity for cyclists is at an all-time excessive,” stated Yim Angel, founding father of the advocacy group Bicycle Collective. “Cyclists contribute to the setting, transportation, well being, sport and recreation. However presently, now we have no ensures of security to maneuver round freely in Bogotá. have been scared.”
Cyclists, from on a regular basis commuters to die-hard riders, and advocacy teams have demanded that town do extra to make town protected for them, and Mr. Galan, who took workplace in January, stated officers would first Varied steps have been being taken since then.
Whereas police knowledge exhibits bike thefts have declined in recent times, a rise in sure varieties of violent crimes in Bogotá previously 12 months, corresponding to robberies, sexual assaults and carjackings, has raised issues that the sprawling metropolis is popping its again on bicycles. Together with drivers have gotten much less protected. ,
A sequence of violent crimes, together with the homicide of a businessman and a number of other armed robberies, have elevated unease in additional prosperous and normally quiet components of town.
Mr. Galan stated in an interview that he fearful that rising worry was inflicting individuals to desert extra environmentally pleasant methods of getting round in Bogotá.
He stated, “There are numerous individuals who would possibly make journeys 4, 5, six blocks from house to go to work or to purchase one thing, however at present they're doing it by automotive, they're nonetheless doing it by bicycle or It’s also possible to do it on foot.” , “So, for us, safety is a elementary precedence.”
David Santiago Cortés Peña, 23, who runs a bicycle store in Bogotá and joined an expert biking group final 12 months, just lately set out on a coaching trip of about 30 miles to a city outdoors town.
About 5:30 a.m., whereas visiting pals on the foot of a mountain close to the place he lives, Mr. Cortes stated a person jumped out from behind a tree within the darkness. He tried to go across the man, however he stated the person fired at him, one bullet grazed his eyebrow and he bought off his bike.
As he lay bleeding on the bottom, Mr. Cortes stated, he noticed the person run away on his bicycle, which had price him $3,500. To pay it off, he took a mortgage, bought some items and took assist from his elder brother.
“It was an effort by your entire household over the course of a 12 months to pay it off,” he stated.
He had insured his bicycle, nevertheless it had expired in December and he had not renewed the coverage. That they had additionally determined that it was turning into too costly to pay for one thing that most of the metropolis's superior riders used – a bike escort.
Nowadays, Mr. Cortes is utilizing a borrowed bike, and he stated he’ll trip the bike solely throughout the day and rent an escort.
“I'll find yourself with no financial savings,” he stated, “nevertheless it's higher for security.”
Luis Fernando Guarín, 37, was not on a coaching journey when he grew to become the sufferer. He was doing what many individuals in Bogotá use their bicycles for: commuting to work. He stated the nine-mile journey would take two hours by public bus, whereas pedaling on two wheels would take half the time.
“It additionally reduces my stress,” stated Mr. Guerin, who works for a telecommunications firm.
He was using house on a bicycle path alongside a serious highway on a latest Friday evening when, he stated, he was stopped by 4 males who jumped out from behind some bushes attempting to rob him. When he resisted, Mr. Guerin stated, he was stabbed twice within the abdomen earlier than the assailants stole his bike.
He tried to file police stories on-line from his cellphone whereas within the hospital and at house, however he stated the web site for submitting such stories was not working. He by no means reached the police station to do it in individual. Mr Guerin stated that, even when he had filed a report, he had not the slightest confidence that his bike can be recovered.
Town operates a bicycle register designed to make it simpler to determine stolen bikes and return them to their house owners. Up to now, 400,000 bikes have been registered, in response to Mayor Mr. Galan, who desires the quantity to extend considerably.
He stated solely 15 p.c of the 1,100 bikes stolen within the metropolis within the first two months of this 12 months have been recovered. Specialists stated many thefts could possibly be prevented if cyclists locked their bikes or used stronger locks after they weren’t biking.
Mr. Angel, who helped kind a bicycle advocacy group a number of years in the past after the deadly taking pictures of a bike owner in Bogota, stated his group organized two latest protest rallies after discussing it with officers about bettering bicycle security. Was postponed.
The group has put ahead 10 suggestions, a few of which mirror what town is contemplating implementing within the coming months.
Mr. Galan laid out a listing of attainable steps: specializing in the 5 neighborhoods the place most bike robberies happen; growing police presence on most important roads; putting in extra avenue cameras and lights; making it simpler to file police stories; and growing the punishment for robberies as a powerful deterrent.
Andrea Maria Navarrete, who was town's biking supervisor from 2021 to 2023, stated making bicycling safer would additionally assist tackle an enormous gender disparity amongst cyclists and encourage extra ladies to bike.
“If ladies don't notice the dangers in infrastructure, it means everybody else will get pleasure from it,” she stated.
Mr Galan promised to construct on town's mobility achievements to make it the “bicycle capital of the world”.
“I do know lots of people will criticize that saying, 'With a lot insecurity, how will you say that?'” he stated. “It's true: Now we have safety issues that we try to unravel. And we have to preserve increasing bike paths and bike lanes so individuals can get round. This metropolis has a really particular relationship with bicycles.
Simon Posada Contributed to the reporting.