Biking in Mexico City has never been easier. With the recent expansion of bike lanes and the success of the Ecobici Bike Share system, Mexico City has established itself as a leader in pro-bike cities. On November 12th, in recognition of these achievements, ITDP Mexico presented the “Ciclociudad 2013” award to Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera, representing the Mexico City government. The city received an electronic bike counter, donated by the Danish Governmentm to support their ongoing work promoting. His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince and Her Royal Highness, the Crown Princess of Denmark attended the ceremony. The award recognizes Mexico City’s successes surrounding biking, including public policy, infrastructure, connectivity, grants, and a public biking system.

ITDP Regional Director Bernardo Baranda, speaking at the event, expressed his pride in recognizing Mexico City’s success, and that ITDP’s Ciclociudades program will allow more people to use the bicycle as an efficient mode of transportation. Baranda specifically highlighted Mexico City’s Ecobici system, the addition of cycle paths, the complete streets built along Felix Cuevas and Eduardo Molina, and the ample bike stations available throughout the city. 

The award is the result of the ITDP study, “Ranking Ciclociudades”. The study looked at 30 Mexican cities and evaluated their performance on urban cycling, based on indicators such as Institutional Capacity, Promotion and Education, Infrastructure, and Current Use of Bicycles. The Ranking enables more information sharing, measures advancements, and creates incentives to promote a culture of urban cycling in Mexico.

The study is the first attempt to generate hard data on bicycle mobility, and builds on the recommendations given to these cities in 2011, as part of the “Comprehensive Manual to Bicycle Mobility in Mexican Cities”. The Manual is a tool for developing policies supporting bike mobility in Mexico. The five leading cities in Mexico, according to the study, are Mexico City, Aguascalientes, Guadalajara, León, and Pachuca. The other cities were given honorable mentions at the ceremony.