The bicycle has always been the objective of thousands of people, athletes and non-athletes, to move around the cities. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the bicycle sales line was more or less that, linear, but after confinement, many of us have changed the way we relate to each other and have adapted to new styles, focusing on sustainable mobility. So much so that the number of kilometers of bike lanes has grown substantially in many Spanish cities in recent months.
Cabify, the private transport company that generated so much controversy along with Uber in its fight against the taxi, or the taxi against them, has launched a study carried out through surveys in the main urban environments such as the cities of Madrid, Barcelona , Valencia and Seville.
This is the I Cabify User Research Study on urban mobility trends by bicycle and it is launched just today, June 3, 2021, which is celebrated on international bicycle day.
In these surveys it has been discovered that the interest in the bicycle has not been something seasonal and punctual, but that 43% of those surveyed have clear intentions of using it in the coming months. Of that percentage, 22% of those surveyed are already a bicycle user today and 21% have in mind to start using it soon.
2020 was the year where everything changed
It has been during 2020 when the increase in the use of bicycles has been seen, reaching 11% between the months of March and June of that same year. As we have previously mentioned, bike lanes have been expanded in dozens of cities throughout Spain and this has increased and encouraged the use of bicycles as a means of transport by 48%.
In Barcelona, 32% of the people surveyed in this study say they use and have a bicycle, compared to 27% in Seville, 24% in Valencia and 19% in the capital (Madrid).
This sports accessory is mainly used as a sustainable means of transportation to visit friends or family, go to school or work, to run a quick errand, etc. Despite these changes in mobility, the car continues to be the favorite means when we go to visit someone and public transport also when it comes to going to the center of the cities.
The "boom" of bikes has been so great that we currently suffer a shortage and there is a waiting list of up to 6 and 8 months to be able to buy a bicycle mountain in Spain.
The bicycle is sustainable but it does not finish convincing
Another curious and important fact that emerges from the study carried out by Cabify is that the older we get, the more we move away from the bike. According to the I Cabify User Research Study on urban mobility trends by bicycle, those under 40 years of age continue to use bicycles, however, those over 50 years of age are no longer so in favor of using this sustainable and economical means of transport. .
One of the reasons is the weather, the scarcity of parking and the little security that sometimes gives us leaving the bike in the street or even moving on it. 23% of those surveyed say that theyhe most unsafe cities to travel by bike are Madrid and Barcelona.
On the other side of the ring we have the users who opt for shared bicycles that occupy 75% of this study and do so for sustainability, to save money, to reach their destination faster, because they are accessible, etc. However, there are those who use the bike to keep fit and occupy 66% of the participants in this study. In this case, it coincides quite a bit with users who own a bicycle. In general, 92% use the bicycle because it is an economical, sustainable, environmentally friendly means of transport, it helps us stay in shape, etc.