Barcelona ready to triple its bike paths by 2018

The Barcelona urban mobility plan is to invest heavily on mobility by bicycle: 32 million euros to rise from 116 to 308 kilometers of bicycle paths.
The city of Barcelona has decided to invest in mobility on two wheels, allocating 32 million euros to triple in three years the number of kilometers of bicycle paths and increase bicycles parking spaces of the metropolis.
The goal is to pass by 2018 from the current 72% of citizens with access to a bike path within less than 300 meters from home to a percentage of 95%. The cycle paths of the Catalan city will join the roads where the limit for vehicles is 30 km/h. The measure is part of a national 2013-2018 urban mobility plan, which aims to achieve 200000 daily trips on two wheels in 2018, rising from 1.5% of trips by bicycle to 2.5%. The idea is that within two years commuters moving by bicycle will increase by 67%.

The deputy mayor with ecology delegation and urban mobility Janet Sanz emphasized that she is going to allocate about 900000 euros to increase by 23% the surface used for bicycles parking places. The new parkings have to be safe from vandals and theft, protected from the elements and accessible in terms of cost to the user.
The economic potential of the bicycle is high. The cycling industry measures in Europe something like 43940 million euros, of which 1620 millions concern Spain; a high growth potential reality when compared to the nearly 7500 from France.

In Barcelona, more and more hotels offer bikes for their customers and Bikefriendly certified accommodations are becoming more numerous. They offer several services dedicated to lovers of two wheels: secure parking, washing and sometimes repair the vehicles.
Within the last Copenhagenize Index 2015, the global ranking of the most bicycle friendly cities, Barcelona has placed eleventh. According to experts, the new measures taken by the city will push the city towards the top of the league during the years to come.