Skip to main content

Cycling is the fastest way of travelling across Buenos Aires

A study by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) shows cycling, rather than travelling by car or bus, as the fastest way of travelling in Buenos Aires city. By bike, it takes 26 minutes to travel between Parque Centenario and Plaza de Mayo, compared to 40 minutes that takes by bus and 41 minutes by car. The journeys were at the same time (8:50AM). The average speed for a bike is 16.2km/h, compared to 10.5km/h for a bus and 10.3km/h for a car. Because of parking, car travel is the mo
May 9, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A study by the 5466 Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) shows cycling, rather than travelling by car or bus, as the fastest way of travelling in Buenos Aires city. By bike, it takes 26 minutes to travel between Parque Centenario and Plaza de Mayo, compared to 40 minutes that takes by bus and 41 minutes by car. The journeys were at the same time (8:50AM). The average speed for a bike is 16.2km/h, compared to 10.5km/h for a bus and 10.3km/h for a car. Because of parking, car travel is the most expensive way of travelling and also the most unsustainable one.

Meanwhile, an increase in the cost of underground fares in Buenos Aires city has driven users away. The first quarter of 2012 saw a 14 per cent drop in the number of underground passengers, soon after the standard fare more than doubled. The underground system was used by 56.11 million passengers in the first three months of 2012, down from 65.43 million in the same period of 2011. In contrast, the number of bus passengers rose 10.7 per cent. The amount of traffic going through the city's road entrances increased 13.7 per cent in March alone.

Related Content

  • April 9, 2014
    ITS homes in on cycling safety
    A new generation of ITS equipment is helping road authorities get to grips with cycle safety – and not a moment too soon as Colin Sowman discovers. Cyclists - remember them? Apparently not. At least not according to the OECD 2013 report Cycling, Health and Safety which contains the statement: ‘Cyclists are often forgotten in the design of the road traffic system’. Looking through the statistics that exist (each country appears to compile them differently) it is not difficult to see how such a conclusion cou
  • September 19, 2014
    Public transport key to climate change, says report
    A new report, released in advance of United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit on 23 September, claims that more than US$100 trillion in cumulative public and private spending could be saved and 1,700 megatons of annual carbon dioxide (CO2) - a 40 percent reduction of urban passenger transport emissions - could be eliminated by 2050 if the world expands public transportation, walking and cycling in cities. The report, A Global High Shift Scenario, from the Institute for Transportation Development
  • January 26, 2012
    Vancouver's metro transport promotes alternatives to driving
    David Crawford looks at Vancouver and the legacy of a Olympic transport success
  • January 3, 2017
    UK commuters spend up to six times as much of their salary on rail fares as other European passengers
    Rail commuters returning to work this week will face fresh fare increases, while spending up to six times as much of their salary on rail fares as European passengers on publicly owned railways, new research by the Action for Rail campaign has revealed. UK workers on average salaries will spend 14 per cent of their income on a monthly season ticket from Luton to London (£387), or 11 per cent from Liverpool to Manchester (£292). By contrast, similar commutes would cost passengers only two per cent of t