Tag: ecobici

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Mexico’s Ecobici Bike Share Expanding Again, and Opening to Tourists

On By jamesinclair

Another year, another major expansion for Mexico City’s 4-year old Ecobici bike share system.

The latest expansion will see an investment of 150 million pesos – or 11 million USD – to expand into 14 new square kilometers (5.5sq.mi) using 171 new stations, and 2,600 new bikes. Of those new stations, 12 will be added in areas that currently have service, to meet high demand. 

To put that number in perspective, the system currently has 275 stations. With the expansion, the system will become the largest in the Americas, beating out New York’s Citibike which has 330 stations. The system would still be smaller than the ones in Paris and London, as well as various enormous systems in China. Click to read more!

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Mexico City’s Ecobici nears 100,000 subscribers

On By jamesinclair

When it comes to the world of bike-share, New York’s Citibike may continue to get the headlines, but it’s actually Mexico City’s Ecobici that has the most users in the Americas. Last week, they proudly released stats about ridership, and the numbers are impressive, especially for a city that isn’t exactly known for cycling (or safe streets). 

According to El Universal, Ecobici has reached 95,780 annual members. Of those, 40,500 have been added since December. That compares with NYC being just shy of 80,000, since launching in May. When the Ecobici program completed their 3rd expansion last year, the goal was 75,000 users.Looks like it’s time for more stations. Click to read more!

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Mexico City to finally get parking meters

On By jamesinclair

One of the most traffic choked cities in the world has always been home to an oddity – street parking is free and with almost no restrictions. No time limits, no permits, no payment required – at least officially. As long as you don’t block a driveway, you can park on a local street. This past weekend, a neighborhood got to vote on the novel idea of introducing parking meters to restore some order to their streets.

As “The High Price of Free Parking” taught us, a policy of free and unlimited parking comes with many serious drawbacks. For one, by making parking free, more driving is encouraged, which is especially troublesome in a city known for its endless gridlock. At any given point, how many tens of thousands of drivers are circling the block, looking for an elusive empty space? Click to read more!

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Mexico City bike share getting large expansion

On By jamesinclair

Mexico City launched a bike share system (Ecobici) in early 2010 with 70 stations and over a thousand bikes. After seeing a very small expansion in 2011 (15 stations), the system will finally receive a Phase 2, which is to be installed this month.

The numbers:

Stations: From 90 to 275
Bikes: From 1,000 to 4,000
Annual Subscribers: From 30,000 to 73,000

This will make the system the 7th largest in the world.

The system is the ClearChannel kind, which is popular in Europe. Unlike the B-Cycle and Bixi systems found in other North American systems, the ClearChannel stations do require installation, so the roll-out is a bit slower. Instead of simply being dumped off a truck, these stations require some digging and electrical work. That means installation of Phase 2 will take all of September. Click to read more!

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Mexico City ped/bike infrastructure, airport and random pictures

On By jamesinclair

This is a continuation of pictures from Mexico City.
Older entries:
Mexico City Periférico construction in pictures
Mexico City Metrobús in pictures

Here I look at sidewalk and pedestrian infrastructure, some bikes, light rail, the airport and even some ancient roadways.

In downtown Mexico City, I spotted a brand new separated bike lane, with a green bike box and all. Note the two folks using the Ecobici bikeshare bikes. Also note the public tourism bus.

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On foot, we explore the neighborhood of Tlalpan. Small local parks are pleasant.

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Sidewalks have many, many trees, but the trees do a good job of making the concrete very uneven. Click to read more!

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Mexico City bike-share (Ecobici) expands, more for 2012

On By jamesinclair

When you think of cycling, Mexico City probably does not come to mind. However, they are trying to change that and began by launching a bike-share system in February 2010. Now they are getting ready for a large expansion in 2012, and they’re ending this year with a small one. As part of the introduction and expansion of a bike-share system, the city’s first bike lanes were installed last year. Also, a “Sunday streets” type event was introduced, where large avenues are closed to cars on Sundays and opened to bikes and pedestrians only.

The bike share system is operated by Clear Channel, so it unfortunately is a closed system (no one day memberships, only monthly and annuals). However, that hasn’t stopped it from being successful. The membership base was capped at 30,000 as to not overwhelm the bikes, and there is currently a 6 week waiting period. Click to read more!