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Old 04-29-13 | 10:29 PM
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Ekdog
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,398
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From: Seville, Spain

Bikes: Brompton M6R, mountain bikes, Circe Omnis+ tandem

Bicycle Friendly Cities, 2013

The Copenhagenize Index is out for 2013 and...

WE'RE NUMBER FOUR! WE'RE NUMBER FOUR!

Yes, I know these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, but I'm still proud of Seville for having come so far in such a short time.

Here's what they had to say about this fair city:

Seville is the poster child of the modern bicycle planning movement. Nothing less. From a modal share of 0.5% in 2006, the city went from zero to hero and now boasts 7% modal share. The rapid rise in bicycle traffic was due to visionary political will. 80 km of bicycle infrastructure was completed in just one year and more was added later. The transformation was rapid, intense and positive. Other cities look to Seville for inspiration and they have shown what is possible. Their bike share system played an equal role in bringing the bicycles back. Indeed, you can't have a bike share system if you don't have infrastructure for people to ride them on. Seville did everything right and transformed their city. While their 7% is far off the high 30s of the three cities above them on the list, Seville reaped maximum bonus points - 12 - in a number of categories including infrastructure, modal share increase since 2006 (6.5%) politics and bike share.

Copenhagenize Fixes
Where to go from here? For starters, aiming for the goal laid out by the Charter of Brussels is a fine idea. A modal share of 15% is the holy grail for European cities. Getting to 5% is the difficult task but getting from there to 15% is much easier. If Seville wants to continue their wave of bicycle culture success, more political will is required. Investment and vision go hand in hand. If Spain adopts the feared mandatory helmet law this year, Seville's ranking - and future as a bicycle-friendly city - is at stake. It's also time to expand the bi-directional tracks to include one-way tracks on both sides of the streets in order to allow full and complete desire lines for the cycling citizens.
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