With the participation of approximately 500 people from Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, and the Netherlands, the third National Bicycle Forum was inaugurated this Wednesday in San Cristóbal. One of its objectives is “to generate dialogue and action to transform our streets into safer, more inclusive, and sustainable environments.”
The organizing committee, part of the National Bicycle Forum (FNB), reported that the event will bring together groups, activists, academics, authorities, wheelchair users, and various cyclists from March 11 to 16 to “promote sustainable mobility and cycling culture in the country.”
They added that the forum, whose motto is “for the joy of riding with a voice,” will feature a wide range of free activities open to children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and senior citizens. Miguel Alberto Hidalgo, a member of the FNB’s San Cristóbal chapter seed committee, explained that it represents “a convergence and collaboration of groups, organizations, government institutions, cyclists, and bicycle activists.”
In an interview, he said that by Wednesday night, when the work began, around 500 people had registered, “and more are coming to join, in addition to artists like the Scenic Bike Ride and the Sound System Bike Ride.”
He reiterated that “the objective is the coordination and convergence among civil society organizations, to put the problem at the center of the issue in order to work on it, and in the specific case of San Cristóbal, it is to work on three main pillars: Inclusion, accessibility, the environment, and general mobility.”
He stated that “more than infrastructure, a lot of road safety education is needed because there is no awareness of the mobility hierarchy in society; people don’t yield the right of way, there are many traffic accidents, a lot of speeding, a lack of signage on the streets, which means that people can’t walk due to insecurity and they also can’t be safe riding a bicycle.”
He emphasized: “We want people to get on bikes safely, encourage greater participation, and make the city more bike-friendly. The results of the forum will be presented at a national assembly, where the next national forum will be held.”
Ariel Adonai Ramírez, a social promoter and member of the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA), from El Salvador, noted that the six-person delegation is coming “for cultural exchange. We are interested in learning how cycling is being handled outside our borders so we can exchange experiences and learn about the organization, discussions, and cycling mechanisms being implemented in San Cristóbal, which we can then replicate in San Salvador.”
He stated that “three of us from Cesta are here, along with three more from a cycling movement that Cesta is promoting to encourage bicycle use in San Salvador. This movement supports 15 cycling groups, including seven women’s groups and eight mixed groups. We are supporting them so they can create public policies and influence decision-makers to promote regulations that favor cycling.” He commented that the World Bicycle Forum will be held in El Salvador from September 17th to 20th of this year.
Source: jornada
