Tatto: Number of cyclists will triple in São Paulo.

by Rodrigo Gomes, from Current Brazil Network
São Paulo – The municipal secretary of Transportation of São Paulo, Jilmar Tatto, expects the number of cyclists in the city to increase from the current 500 to 1,5 million with the completion of the 400-kilometer network of cycle paths in the city, by 2016. “When you create a cycling infrastructure, cyclists appear,” he said yesterday (22), during an interview on the program Gabinete Aberto, held at the Centro Cultural São Paulo. The figure is estimated by the secretary based on cyclist counts made in the exclusive lanes and information on the increase in bicycle sales since the beginning of the measure.

Since last year, 78,3 kilometers of bike lanes have been built in the city of São Paulo. The process has been carried out in stages, and some of these sections do not connect to other roads or public facilities.

A survey released last Thursday (18) by Ibope, commissioned by Rede Nossa São Paulo, showed that 88% of São Paulo residents are in favor of building and expanding bike lanes in the city. The survey interviewed 700 people between August 29 and the 3rd of this month.

The network will also include bike paths running over the 19 bridges that cross the banks of the Pinheiros and Tietê rivers. This does not include bridges that connect avenues to the riverbanks themselves, such as the Otávio Frias de Oliveira cable-stayed bridge.

“The biggest problem in doing this is the access ramps from the side roads to the bridges,” explained Tatto. Because of this problem, some bridges will have attached cycle walkways instead of cycle paths, such as Cidade Universitária, Ponte do Socorro, Cidade Jardim, Freguesia do Ó, and Piqueri. The first bridge to have a bicycle lane will be the Casa Verde bridge, on an experimental basis. Crossing the rivers is a long-standing demand of cycling activists.

This morning, in a meeting with cycling activists, the mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad (PT), guaranteed that all districts of the capital will be interconnected by bike paths. “No district, no matter how peripheral, will be left out of the cycling network. Four hundred kilometers is enough to reach Rio de Janeiro, so it's also enough to reach Guaianases (east zone), Perus (northwest), and Marsilac (south),” stated Haddad.

He also proposed that cycling activists demand a reduction in taxes – ICMS (state), PIS, Cofins and IPI (federal) – on bicycles. "It's important that we start fighting alongside state and federal governments for tax exemptions for bicycles," he stated.

No municipal tax is levied on bicycles. Haddad will propose to the National Front of Mayors (FNP) that they adopt this policy. He believes that the price of bicycles could be reduced by up to 30%.

Tatto also took the opportunity to reject the criticism that the exclusive bike lanes are being built without studies. "That's nonsense."

The secretary emphasized that the Traffic Engineering Company (CET) had no prior experience with the implementation of bike lanes.

“We sent people to Buenos Aires, New York. The 400-kilometer figure came from a comparison of how many streets and bike paths each city has, their model, connections, and the reality of São Paulo,” he explained. According to the secretary, the final size of the network is already outdated, and today we should be thinking about 1,000 kilometers.

The secretary also guaranteed that 18 of the 28 municipal bus terminals will receive bicycle parking facilities, creating approximately 500 spaces for bicycle storage. Currently, the city's bus terminals and stations already have 852 bicycle parking spaces, which will bring the total to 1.358 spaces. The city hall will also implement new bicycle racks throughout the city, changing the current format of placing them on sidewalks.

“I was wrong. I would install the rack, and when I put the bicycle there, pedestrians had nowhere to pass,” he reflected. The new equipment will be available internally in public facilities and along sections of streets. Tatto also believes that, as soon as the use of bike lanes increases, businesses, subway stations, and other locations will have bicycle parking facilities.

The secretary also raised the possibility of the department proposing a plan to improve sidewalks, thus addressing the main mode of transportation in São Paulo. Approximately 30% of people travel exclusively on foot, according to the origin-destination survey of the São Paulo metro system. Tatto argues that sidewalks should not be the sole responsibility of homeowners. "They are public property; the responsibility lies with the public authorities," he stated.