Sustainable Mobility and Bicycle Systems Across Australia and Argentina
On August 9th, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report in which it urged countries to take action in reducing fossil fuel emissions to avoid extreme climate change. There is an increasing consciousness of the fact that everyone has a role to play in tackling global warming. One of the proposed solutions is sustainable mobility. This can be understood as a vision of a more holistic transport system that prioritises the quality of urban life and the wellbeing of every citizen. The encouragement of the use of bicycles in big urban areas contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And thanks to this, the speed at which cities are transforming and improving bike riding is unprecedented. Argentina and Australia have different approaches to tackling this urban transformation.
In the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), it was detected that the largest contribution of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions came from diesel buses, as well as, to a lesser extent, diesel cars. In order to promote new and cleaner means of transportation, the ECOBICI system was created. It is a public-private-run system of bicycles that are distributed throughout Buenos Aires across 229 stations. To use these bikes, you must create an account in an app managed by the Government of Buenos Aires. Once registered, you can locate stations and their available bicycles, which you can unlock using a specific code. There are four different fares: free, intensive, recreational, and tourist. The government also provides courses and projects to increase awareness and promote sustainable mobility. The Government of Buenos Aires published a list of goals for 2023, in which they promised to reach 300 km of bikeways (currently there are more than 260 km built).
On the other hand, Sydney is a major international city, where motor vehicles are an important contributor to NO2 emissions. And although the number of cars is expected to increase as the population continues to grow; emissions from motor vehicles are set to continue to fall due to technological developments and public policies that have been implemented in recent years. After being labeled “the city that hates bikes'' by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2010, Sydney is working towards redeeming its bike-unfriendly reputation. It is taking part in the NSW BikePlan, which aims to promote bicycle infrastructure and provide talks and training for those who want to learn more about riding. This program is set to combat traffic jams, reduce pollution, and make healthy physical activities part of everyday life. The City of Sydney’s website offers cycling courses, and maps of cycleways and bicycle shops around Sydney. The NSW Government is aiming to have a cycling network within 10 kilometres of the CBD and Parramatta CBD delivered by 2026, and within 5 kilometres of strategic centres by 2036.
One of the consequences of COVID-19 is the increasing number of Australians buying e-bikes. E-bike rental companies are hoping to avoid repeating recent bike rental experiences when an oversaturation of bicycles led to their littering on top of trees and in lakes. This was seen as unprofitable by companies. However different companies re-emerged in 2020, including: Lime, Mobike/Onyahbike and Beam. Each one has a different fare and offers either different bikes or even personal accident insurance cover.
Both governments share the goal of promoting sustainable mobility. Both are responsible for financing and building the infrastructure needed to make it easier for everyone to ride a bicycle. Nevertheless, there is a vital difference: in Sydney there is a council responsible for the city and there is also the state government. They must try to coordinate their decisions and agree on how to manage and spend the budget to make a more bicycle-friendly Sydney. This does not happen in Buenos Aires, because the city is autonomous and therefore can implement its own city-wide bike plan. Moreover, the government of Sydney is in charge of urban mobility whilst there are only private companies in charge of the rental or shared bikes system. Despite their differences, both cities could learn from one another. Buenos Aires could explore attracting bike-rental companies, while Sydney could learn how the cycleways, in the Argentine capital, were connected (despite the differences between the two cities).
Urban bicycle systems are vulnerable to external and unpredictable circumstances: in Buenos Aires the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the use of bicycles, but in Sydney the number of Australians riding bikes soared. These situations need dynamic answers and proper infrastructure, for example: the concept of temporary cycleways was created in Sydney during the pandemic. These were installed to help citizens return to work and have become so popular that they occasionally overtook the city’s busiest bike paths, furthering calls to make them permanent.
As governments start promoting more sustainable mobility, and the availability of bicycles increases, more people are drawn to ride a bicycle to work or to school. These systems require daily upkeep to ensure their survival and development. Now more than ever, cities are improving their infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians in order to make a lasting impact towards preserving the environment.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue.