Berkley Center

There is a running joke among Argentines that Buenos Aires should really be called “Malos [bad] Aires.” This familiar tongue-in-cheek saying is admittedly an exaggeration of the city’s air quality, but it undeniably contains some truth. Like any other modern urban city, Buenos Aires suffers from unrelenting, oppressive traffic congestion at almost all hours of the day. To combat the chronic traffic problem and take pressure off the overcrowded, bus-dependent public transit system, the city government has introduced a number of initiatives over the past few years aiming to dramatically increase bike usage as a viable transportation alternative.

Several years ago, the city government adopted the slogan and symbol “Buenos Aires Ciudad Verde” (see picture) to announce its new policy focus of reducing trash, discouraging motor vehicle dependency, recycling service reform, etc. Since then, it has launched a sophisticated, multi-dimensional campaign in support of so-called “green” initiatives.

Easily the most visible expression of the city government’s new focus is the number of initiatives geared towards encouraging biking as a substitute for the many forms of motor vehicle transportation available: cars, taxis, buses, or the ever-popular roaring motorbikes. Not traditionally known as a bike-friendly city, Buenos Aires’ mayor, Mauricio Macri, is championing a campaign to change this perception, making it a staple of his administration.

Most notably, Macri has made the creation of bike lanes a city priority. Although bike lanes had already existed in Buenos Aires for a number of years before Macri was elected in 2007, the bike lane network is expanding under the Macri administration. The growth of the bike lane network is only the beginning, though. It marks the strategic foundation of the administration’s aggressive citywide campaign to encourage biking through several related programs.

The first of these is the Mejor en Bici free bike sharing program. Sprinkled throughout the city along bike lanes and planned bike lane routes are a number of bike sharing stations exclusively financed and run by the city government. Access to the bright yellow bikes is limited to residents of Argentina, riding time is limited to one hour and, most importantly, it is completely free! Riders can even reserve a bike before arriving through the Mejor en Bici website.

The city website actually refers to the program as a “System of Public Transportation,” implying that Mejor en Bici should be considered a legitimate alternative to the subway or a bus as a form of public transportation.

A second major pillar of the city’s campaign empowers Buenos Aires inhabitants to buy a bike for themselves, giving the popular Mejor en Bici program some breathing room. Walking around the city, it is impossible to miss the omnipresent posters advertising a special zero percent interest loan to Argentines in order to purchase a new bike, which are relatively more expensive than in the United States (see picture). The Macri administration negotiated with El Banco de la Nación Argentina (the National Bank of Argentina) to secure this special bike loan, giving Argentines from all socioeconomic backgrounds the opportunity to acquire a bike.

The Macri administration is not holding anything back in its ongoing push to increase bike use and generate enthusiasm around a biking lifestyle. During the recent weekend of October 27, there was even a two day event organized and sponsored by the city government called La Festival de la Bici that featured music, food, BMX bikers, games, among a whole host of other things centering around the theme of—you guessed it—biking.

All of these initiatives translate into a simple outcome. Those who are fed up with the expensive and uncomfortably crowded subway, the unpredictable buses, and the suffocating motor traffic are increasingly gravitating towards bicycles to whisk them away from this transportation nightmare. It is cheaper in the long-term, healthier, and, most importantly, bikers do not need to depend on the notoriously unreliable public transportation system to move around the city.

With Buenos Aires’ temperate climate and the absence of any hills, the case is closed: it makes sense for a number of reasons to bike as an alternative means of transportation in this enchanting port city. And with a gentle push from their local government, people are starting to realize it.