1.2. josé otávio braga

I’D RATHER GO BY BIKE: changes in the cycling scenario in Fortaleza

José Otávio Santos de Almeida Braga



Fortaleza 01

• Fortaleza is hot all year.

• It has nearly 4,000km of street grid

• It has good winds to refresh the warm.

• Area: 314,93km² • Population:

2.609.716 • Most dense capital

city of Brasil: 8.286,65 inhabitants/km²

• Number of cars raised 125,6% in 10 years (2004-2014). 536.895 cars today



Fortaleza 02

6,7% of commute were made by bike in 1996 Excuses that people say for not biking: 1. The city is hot 2. The city is

violent. 3. I will sweat 4. Everything is so

far 5. I don’t have

stamina



Groups 03



Context 04 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

• Cycling seen as leisure or sport, not as transport to commute.

• Lots of groups of “Night Bike”



Context 05 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Release of the new “Urban

Mobility National Policy” that established

rules and guidelines for the cities to

make “Mobility Plans”



Context 06 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Election of the new mayor, Roberto Cláudio, to the period 2013-2016



Context 07 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Riots against the FIFA World Cup and the government

“Jornadas de Junho de 2013”



Historic 08 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

New groups related to urban policies themes are created.



09 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

City Hall released a two-level viaduct that would invade a natural park and would not serve cyclists and pedestrians.

Historic



10 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

A movement called “Ocupe Cocó” was organized to stop the devastation of the park. Other groups have joined to include the

accessibility theme to the enviromental.

Historic



11 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Unfortunately, all participation and discussion required were ignored and answered with violence, but much more people

were aware of the importance of the accessibility theme.

Historic



12 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The building of this viaduct, even with all the noticed problems for the accessibility of pedestrian and cyclists and the park invasion, was

considered like a trophy for the city hall.

Historic



13 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

By that time, Fortaleza had only 78km of cycleways and cycle lanes, less than 2% of street grid.

Historic



14 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The group “Critical Mass Fortaleza” painted the first “citizen bike lane”. Cyclists started to use it really soon, but City Hall

erased it in a couple of days

Historic



15 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

One month later, City Hall painted a new bike lane there.

Historic



16 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

There was a great bikelash as people would say that there were no need for bikelanes cause the traffic was too dangerous.

Historic



17 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

But all the previous discussion and the new ones about bike lanes strenghtened the argument for cycling. Ciclovida started

to count cyclists to prove cycle lanes efficacy.

Historic



18 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

With the growing discussion, some enthusiasts started to write about it,

creating blogs. The first one was “Prefiro ir de Bike”, from Law

student Vinícius Reis.

Historic



19 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The blog has soft writing, giving tips and talking about daily occurences for cyclists. But also covers protests, new projects and

cycling structure and give voice to other cyclists

Historic



20 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Seeing the growing demand, the project “Bike Anjo” started to happen in Fortaleza in the beginning of 2014. The project was started

in São Paulo, Brasil.

Historic



21 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bike Anjo helps people to learn how to bike, no matter age, gender or

even if you don’t have a bike.

Historic



22 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Another interesting blog that has appeared in the beginning of 2014 was “De Bike na Cidade” from journalist Sheryda Lopes. A blog about being a woman and using bike in the streets of Fortaleza.

Historic



23 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

This blog talks about fashion, shared experiences with other women, report sexism and harassment in traffic and also gives hints for women who want

to ride with comfort.

Historic



24 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In 2014, the situation changed a little bit. Seeing the success of the cycle lanes, having federal demands to encourage biking and with new technicians, some streets were redesigned to have bike lanes.

Historic



25 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Also, some great new experiments were being made by City Hall. In September 2014, it started the program “Ciclofaixa de Lazer”, promoting biking in a safe route on sundays.

Historic



26 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

It started with a 10km route, but now, in its 107th edition, there are 3 routes, completing 21km and reaching other parts

of the city, every Sunday from 07am to 1pm.

Historic



27 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In december, another good news. The bike-sharing program of Fortaleza would start. Called “Bicicletar”, it would be

managed by UNIMED (with no costs to the public sector), a health insurance company.

Historic



28 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The program started with 15 stations, each one with 10 bikes and 12 slots. Their locations were planned by public sector, trying to maintain a distance of 250-300m each. To take a bike you have to register and use the app or phone the

central to unblock it. The service is really cheap, costing R$ 5,00 (€ 1,37) the daily pass, R$ 10,00 (€2,74) the monthly pass and R$ 60,00 (€ 16,39) the annual pass, being completely free for those who are registered in the “one-pass”, the

public transport integration card. You can return the bike in any station.

Historic



29 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The system was a complete success, getting to the #1 rank at most used bike-sharing systems of Brazil, with an average of 44,1

commutes/bike/day, more than Rio de Janeiro (32,1).

Historic



30 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Today, the system posseses 80 stations, with 800 bycicles, having already realized more than 1 million commutes.

Historic



31 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

And also using the image of the system to advertise and promote its image with the public, specially the young ones.

Historic



32 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

More important, in the end of 2014 the City Hall released the PDCI

(Integrated Cycling Director Plan), that had many informations for the

future of bike in Fortaleza

Historic



33 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

It promised to enlarge the

cycleways to 523 km, but in a

period of 15 years (2030).

One point is that the process was made without participation,

being presented only in the end.

And it was bad at that time, which

forced bike advocates to

protest and make suggestions, that were considered.

Historic



34 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

With a growing stronger bike culture, many bike-friendly commerce started business. One very interesting was Bitelli, that opened in

february 2015.

Historic



35 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

They sell bikes, specially fixed gear, but not just that. They sell beer, drinks, make repairs, organize parties, events and

competitions.

Historic



36 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Another interesting bike-friendly commerce is Úrbici, a newsstand that was adapted to receive a coffe store. They also sell cakes,

breads, beers and offer free water, wi-fi and pump for bike tires.

Historic



37 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Having started business in August, they also make parties, film exhibitions and discussion over cycling related themes.

Historic



38 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In march, a new bike advocacy group appeared. A feminist and women-only one. It was the beginning of “Ciclanas”:

women cyclists in Fortaleza traffic.

Historic



39 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The group was created to share experiences that only women live in traffic and to encourage new ones. Also, many actions were made, like mechanics

classes, discussions, movie presentation and bike rides.

Historic



40 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

As a good sign, the City Hall started to make regular meetings with cyclists and technicians to discuss the demands and projects. It was called “Cycling Management”, but, in the end, it didn’t kept regularity and the demands

didn’t even entered in the priorities list.

Historic



41 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Until the end of the year, all these groups of the city made many actions of bike advocacy or activism/direct actions, such as: moral bill and crosswalk

help by DU, feminist bike ride and popular bike-sharing system in periphery by Massa Crítica; Mobility Month by Ciclovida.

Historic



42 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Popular bike-sharing system in periphery by Massa Crítica was very interesting, since the city bike-sharing system was restricted to the richest

neighborhoods. This action was inspired by a similar one made in Amsterdan by Provos many years before.

Historic



43 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In the middle of these actions, the City Hall tooked contradictory actions, like making more viaducts and tunnels.

Historic



44 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

That have been creating obstacles for the increasing cycle ways of the city.

Historic



45 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In february, there was an action (that

was repeated more 2 times) to plant trees in one of the most

important cycle ways of the city. The initiative, called

“Num Guento Mais Calor” (I can’t stand more heat) was very well received by the population and the

media.

Historic



46 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In 2016, for the first time, Fortaleza held the Naked Bike Ride to raise awareness and bring attention to the fragility of bike

riders in traffic.

Historic



47 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

And after more than a year of movimentation, protests and discussion, the expected cycle lane of avenue Domingos Olímpio was made. It was a really

important connection for other parts in the city and there was dangerous to ride in that avenue. Some people had already been run over by cars and bus there.

Historic



48 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

After the inauguration, Ciclovida counted the number of cyclists and, once more, confirmed the efficacy of a cycle lane to attract cyclists. Another good news was that the City Hall

implemented the first electronic monitoring equipment in the cycle lanes.

Historic



49 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In june, another system of bike-sharing was created in the city. This only exists inside the public transport hubs. Each one of them will receive a 50-bike station with bycicles that can be taken for the periods of 14

hours. This, totally for free after registration.

Historic



50 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In 2016, Ciclovida was elected to make part of two actions of UCB (União dos Ciclistas Brasileiros): Bicicleta nos Planos and Bicicleta nas Eleições, that would analyse and suggest positive cycling changes for the urban plans and for the

candidates of the municipal election.

Historic



51 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bicicleta nas eleições (Bycicles in the elections) was supposed to get the signatures from all candidates to the chair of mayor after making a

commitment letter that would reunite many cyclists desires (gathered with na on-line form. But, in the end, the two major candidates didn’t signed the letter

and the actual mayor was reelected without this commitment.

Historic



52 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Also, Ciclovida is monitoring the evolution of the cycling grid. City Hall promised that until the end of 2016, there would be 216km of cycleways and cycle lanes. Today, the number is at 191km (4,77% of the street grid).

This means that the total number of lanes has increased by 161% since 2013

Historic



53 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

The big picture seems pretty good, but we can’t forget that the roads are still very dangerous for cyclists. Many have died during this year,

including the experienced Vicente “Xuxa” the boy Kaic, who got run over by a SUV while biking in a cycleway.

Historic



54 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Enraged by the situation and the insufficient educative advertising that City Hall does, people have gone out, close the streets and

erected a ghost bike in the memory of the boy Kaic

Historic



55

CONCLUSIONS:

• Ride a bike in Fortaleza has got better since 2013 • City Hall is going in a good direction in bike matters, but there

are some inside that still think that this moment of “biking” will pass, and because of that are still focused on car traffic.

• It was easy for the mayor to make what he wanted, because there was no strong opposition in the municipal chamber.

• Social movements have taken a very important role for this scenario-building. Spreading the word, gathering more interesteds, qualifying media, opposing bad public policies and demanding better ones.



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Sources: 1. https://www.facebook.com/CiclovidaFortaleza/?fref=ts 2. https://www.facebook.com/SCSPFor/?fref=ts 3. https://www.facebook.com/BitelliBikes/?fref=ts 4. https://www.facebook.com/ciclanas/?fref=ts 5. https://www.facebook.com/MassaCriticaFortaleza/?fref=ts 6. https://www.facebook.com/DireitosUrbanosFortal/?fref=ts 7. https://www.facebook.com/numguentomaiscalor/?fref=ts 8. https://www.facebook.com/urbicicafe/?fref=ts 9. https://www.facebook.com/unimedfortaleza/?fref=ts 10. https://www.facebook.com/PrefiroIrDeBike/?fref=ts 11. https://prefiroirdebike.wordpress.com/ 12. https://debikenacidade.com.br/

https://www.facebook.com/CiclovidaFortaleza/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/SCSPFor/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/BitelliBikes/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/ciclanas/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/MassaCriticaFortaleza/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/DireitosUrbanosFortal/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/numguentomaiscalor/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/urbicicafe/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/unimedfortaleza/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/PrefiroIrDeBike/?fref=ts

https://prefiroirdebike.wordpress.com/

https://debikenacidade.com.br/

1.2. josé otávio braga

Education

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