Ciclovías close down streets to cars and turn them into pedestrian and cycling street festivals. Photo by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.
On Sunday, Trujillo, Peru will launch its first ciclovía, literally translated to “bike path” in Spanish, an event that will temporarily close down streets to cars and opening them to cyclists and pedestrians alike. Turning cars away, even for a few hours a week on a few stretches of urban roadway, takes considerable sustained effort. EMBARQ Andino opened a pedestrian safety dialogue with more than 64 Peruvian mayors in 2011, influencing them to institutionalize ciclovías as a nationwide policy priority.
This Sunday marks the first ciclovía in Peru outside of Lima. This adds to a strong tradition of ciclovías in South America, from Rosario, Argentina to Bogota, Colombia, where the first ciclovía took place 30 years ago and now attracts more than a million pedestrians and cyclists weekly.
