Starting this Thursday, Ecobici will have 238 stations and serve 11 new neighborhoods

In 2009, only 0.4% of trips in the city of Buenos Aires were made by bicycle. It was another year before the Buenos Aires government set up the first public bicycle system in Argentina. Today, the percentage has risen to 4% and the bike has become the favorite choice of thousands of neighbors who have chosen it as the main way or in addition to other solutions such as the metro, the train or collective. The Ecobici system, launched almost three months ago, is already accumulating more than 500,000 trips, more than 160,000 registered users and broke his own record with 18,000 trips in one day.

In collaboration with the Brazilian company Tembici, Ecobici was inaugurated on February 25th. He made his debut with orange bikes – behind the yellow that characterized the previous generation -, safer, with changes and with Banco Itaú and Mastercard as sponsors. At that time, it only offered three stations with personalized attention, 72 bikes and about 100 daily trips.

Today, he shows 200 stations, 2 thousand hits and is present in 22 districts of Buenos Aires district. And the extension continues: from this Thursday, the system will add 38 stations and will reach Belgrano, Saavedra, Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortúzar, Chas Park, Villa del Parque, Villa General Miter, Flores, Floresta and Villa Soldati. It will also be available in the next few weeks in Nuñez, Agronomía, The Paternal, Villa Santa Rita and Parque Avellaneda. At the Transportation Secretariat of Buenos Aires, they calculate that in May and June, the system will be completed with 400 stations and 4,000 bicycles in the street.

"With these new stations, we are responding to a historic demand from residents who have asked for the system to reach their neighborhoods.The system plays a fundamental role in this cultural change that is transforming the city: it allows everyone to benefit from a sustainable mobility "He said about it Juan José MéndezSecretary of Transport of the City of Buenos Aires.

For its part, Paula Bisiau, Undersecretary for Sustainable and Safe Mobility of the City of Buenos Aires, added: "This shows not only that we are on the right track, but that we are getting closer and closer to a city-sized human being that puts people in the center ".

At the Transport Secretariat, they explained that the points for the installation of the 200 stations had been chosen based on close to transhipment centers, railway stations, metro, population, commercial density and proximity to other stations.

The system is free and users can register via the web, with Tembici's BA Ecobici app (available on Android and iOS) or in person at the Balboa 220 offices in the Chacarita neighborhood. Monday to Friday from 9:30 am to 5 pm A DNI must be presented (photo front and back), a service that has no debt and no more than two months. The credit card is a non-exclusive requirement that allows automatic registration, replaces service charges and is the only option for foreigners.