by Amalia Holub, ITDP Argentina

The Buenos Aires city government recently initiated a bike-to-work program, its latest effort to get residents on bikes and out of their cars. With a presentation from ITDP, the government held a conference with business leaders to outline various means of encouraging their employees to commute by bicycle, as well as the accompanying advantages for the companies, employees, and environment. Shortly after, a number of companies, including Coca-Cola, and Telefónica, signed an agreement with the city in which they commit to encouraging sustainable mobility among their employees. At the end of 2010, ITDP will assess the companies who signed the agreement and will honor those which have made the most progress towards promoting sustainable transportation among their employees.

In a recent article about the bike-to-work program in La Nación newspaper, ITDP Argentina Country Director Andrés Fingeret was quoted saying “the use of the bicycle is a global trend whose success can be seen in cities around the world such as Mexico City, New York, and Bogotá. The bike allows for a more reasonable use of public space because it is much smaller than a car, and it is much more affordable.”

Other aspects of the city’s bicycle program include the construction of 100 kilometers (62 miles) of protected bicycle lanes, the installation of 1,000 bike parking racks around the city, and the passage of a new law stating that commercial parking garages must accept bicycles and cannot charge more than 10% of their fee for cars.

Full article in La Nación (in Spanish): https://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1289850