Mikael visited Porto, Portugal in August 2016 and wasn’t impressed by the lack of bicycle infrastructure – not to mention the so-called “center running lane” where bikes are slapped in the middle of the street. Not at all Best Practice. Has anything changed since? Let us know in the comments. And please subscribe! We’ll be posting more of these Freestyle clips, as well as Life-Sized Travelling and Life-Sized Living segments.
Music by https://www.bensound.com
[Music] so we’re in Porto and we’re walking back from the beach trying to find public transport to get back to the city centre you come across out of the blue a roundabout with we think we think it’s bicycle infrastructure it’s kind of a lane marked out you think they’re kind of doing okay we haven’t seen anything interesting for bicycles in Porto and then you look to your right and you see the worst thing ever the centre running Lane super narrow completely useless and you realize oh my god this city has a long way [Music]
4 Comments
No, nothing has changed since 2016. Over the last two years, we got:
– A grand total of 1 new cycle lane on one of the busiest streets, but with only 500 metres and cars constantly parked on it;
– One (!) BUS lane where it's now allowed to cycle. This is actually one great move by the municipality as this BUS lane connects the city centre with a northern suburb, but it's a shame that it's the only one where they allow bicycles. Meanwhile, all the other BUS lanes in the city are allowed for motorcycles (but not bicycles), which is just unheard of.
– Also, they painted some bike boxes on one street, but they were misteriously replaced by motorbike boxes last month.
But despite virtually zero new infrastructures, everyday we see more and more people riding bikes in Porto. Most of them are expats and Erasmus students from bike-friendly cities and local residents who are tired of getting stuck in traffic.
There is some kind of silent revolution going on, but we won't get a much needed safety in numbers as long as the municipality keeps turning a blind eye. They urgently need to create bike-friendly streets (car drivers are way too reckless here), counterflow bike lanes (too many one way streets on the city centre) and more bike parks (virtually no bike parks on the city centre and lots of bikes parked on street signs and lampposts).
Porto would be one great example for one episode if you want to show what not to do in a city bike-wise.
yes, we have 🙁
Could you please a video of my hometown Porto? We basically have no cycling infrastructure, and people say that it's ok because we are a city with steep climbs. However a lot of tourists and Erasmus students from friendly bike cities try to cycle here.
If you feel like taking a trip to Venice, come and pop into “mestre” .it's still Venice, but it's the neighborhood that's on the mainland. it is full of cycle paths and is increasingly increasing, improving and expanding sustainable mobility. In my opinion, if you inform yourself a little, you might also like it because, by Italian standards, it is very good