Sevilla: a successful experience of bicycle promotion in a Mediterranean context

Abstract

From 2006 to 2011 Sevilla experienced a rapid growth in urban cycling, from a negligible participation in the modal split up to 9% of the total mechanical trips. This rapid growth was based on some active policies heavily based on the building of a continuous and homogeneous network of segregated cycle paths. In this paper the authors analyse the main guidelines for the development of this infrastructure, as well as its impact on urban mobility and bicycle traffic safety. The authors found that the risk of cycling was reduced in parallel to the increase in the number of cyclists, in agreement with the safety in numbers hypothesis. Future trends for further improving bike mobility are also described and analysed. Finally, the authors make an estimation of the possible effects on bicycle use of a hypothetical compulsory helmet regulation, a possibility that is presently under debate in Spain.