Mexico City’s government is planning to broadly expand ECOBICI, the city’s bicycle-sharing system, which has proved extremely popular during its first year. ECOBICI was launched in February 2010 in six central neighborhoods around the Reforma and Insurgentes corridors, which account for 40% of the city’s daily work trips. ECOBICI makes intermodal connections with the city’s Metro and Metrobus systems easy.
A year after its launch, the system has 24,000 users who have made a total 1.2 million trips, with a current average of 9,000 daily trips. Mexico City boasts only having three reported accidents requiring hospital assistance and only one bike stolen to date.
The Mexico City government plans to increase the number of ECOBICI stations to 275 by the end of 2011, and to more than double the number of bikes available to 3,960 from 1,200 currently. Capacity, already nearing its 28,000-user limit, will surge to 73,000, and the program will become accessible to residents of poorer neighborhoods around the capital’s historic downtown.
ITDP Mexico has played a key role in the development of the system, providing technical assistance and guidance on defining where and how the program should expand.