The Use of Bicycles Has Doubled in Santiago de Chile

A recent news report from the Chilean news outlet Meganoticias indicates that the use of bicycles has doubled since the protests started in the middle of October this year. The protests, kindled partly because of the increase on public transportation fares, have resulted in the partial closing of the subway service. This and other factors have had an important impact in urban mobility within Santiago de Chile.

Tomás Echiburú [@tomasechiburu], investigador CEDEUS, constató que al menos se duplicó el flujo de bicicletas en Providencia respecto de semanas atrás 🚲 ¿Qué tan relevante es el uso de la bici para descongestionar Santiago? https://t.co/frzzZP5dYW

— Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable – CEDEUS (@CedeusChile) October 30, 2019

Center for Sustainable Urban Development – CEDEUS tweet (Translated by Google) “Tomás Echiburú [ @tomasechiburu ], researcher CEDEUS, found that at least double the flow of bicycles in Providencia compared to weeks ago. How relevant is the use of the bike to decongest Santiago?”

Tomás Exhiburú, a Chilean architect, measured the number of cyclists on one of the busiest streets in Santiago. On Monday, October 20th, 892 cyclists used the Ricardo Lyon bike route per hour, when two months before the number was 450. Since then, Tomás Exhiburú and his team have verified the architects’ initial research.

Hoy en el #SuperLunes salió esta nota en ElMer sobre la investigación que estamos haciendo sobre el efecto de la crisis en el uso de la bicicleta. Seguimos midiendo y se confirma la hipótesis: la demanda se ha duplicado. pic.twitter.com/8zFysMF1yI

— Tomás Echiburú (@tomasechiburu) November 4, 2019

Tomás Exhiburú’s Tweet (Translated by Google) – Today in the #SuperLunes This note came out in ElMer about the research we are doing on the effect of the crisis on the use of the bicycle. We continue measuring and the hypothesis is confirmed: the demand has doubled.

The architect and his team are looking for ways to expand and make the use of bicycles safer, as well as to figure out new ways of transportation in these times of crisis. There is a call for people in Santiago to fill out an online survey aimed to gather mobility data and preferences.

[ENCUESTA] Desde @CedeusChile estamos estudiando la crisis en el transporte público y su efecto en los patrones de movilidad en Santiago. Les pido responder esta encuesta: https://t.co/lYHikqko2d
No tomará más de 5 min y aportarán información muy valiosa. Gracias. RT pic.twitter.com/f3JM5XCeCA

— Tomás Echiburú (@tomasechiburu) November 6, 2019

Tomás Exhiburú’s Tweet (Translated by Google) – [SURVEY] From @CedeusChile We are studying the crisis in public transport and its effect on mobility patterns in Santiago. I ask you to answer this survey: https://forms.gle/kc9QPYg1qpmkLRPz8… It will not take more than 5 min and will provide very valuable information. Thank you. RT

The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek believes that acts of social discontent such as the protests in Chile are symptoms of our times and they are not going anywhere. In fact, they seem to be here to stay will continue to spread across countries.

Resources

• The original article by Meganoticias on the doubling of bicycle use can be found here.
• In case you were wondering, this is Tomás Exhiburú’s Twitter handle: @tomasechiburu He is constantly informing about the latest developments on the protests in Santiago de Chile.