Assessing cycling social feasibility in a medium-size Patagonian city

Abstract

At present there is a global tendency in urban planning to privilege active mobility, especially in the central areas of the big cities of the world. We address the case of a medium-size city in a developing country like Argentina, which shares characteristics with other Latin American cities. The result of synthesizing experiences carried out in the city of Puerto Madryn, Patagonia Argentina is presented. The use of different instruments throughout various territorial actions allowed us to evaluate the social feasibility of implementing urban cycling policies in the city. Those instruments used were a specially designed mobile application for cyclists and two surveys that cover the cyclist's profile and behavioral aspects towards cycling, respectively. The three of them have the common characteristics of being low-cost and simple to implement. The resulting social feasibility analysis reflects the importance of citizens’ commitment to cycling mobility. This analysis also gives an idea of the efforts needed to implement a policy in that regard. The results obtained indicate a high level of willingness to cycling, particularly among women. Family and friends support appears as a strength. Although infrastructure emerges as an important issue, it is not considered as urgent as other initiatives like safety driving campaigns, bicycle commuting programs and low infrastructure cost parking places. Traveling long distances and rough weather are inherent drawbacks of the Patagonian cities, however they were not observed as major impediments. We conclude that Puerto Madryn has an acceptable level of social feasibility towards urban cycling policies.