Porto is on its way to being a bike friendly city

The Municipality of Porto wants to develop another 35km of cycle routes in the city to reach 50km of bike paths by the end of 2020. 

Currently, the network of cycleway is circa 15km, but the goal is to extend to another 35km to meet the express aim of regaining the public space as announced by the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, in the end of May.

Bike paths will be networked to all cycle ways in the city, which means that it will be possible to cross the city of Porto by bike from end to end. The purpose to 2020 is to complete the large majority of those junctions, which are crucial to establishing a structural mesh for future expansion.

This endeavour is fairly simple, as it suffices to advance with markings and paintings on the pavement, which explained the councillor for Transports of Porto City Hall, Cristina Pimentel, on occasion of the announcement of reclaiming urban public space. "It is about continuing to link all paths that were not linked yet and include its connection to other paths", the councillor furthered.

Alongside the building of bike paths, the Municipality of Porto will provide 130 parking spaces for bikes in monitored parking lots, "which can be two or three times more" as need arises, the councillor added.

At present, the city already has 72 bicycle racks on the public roadway, with capacity for 521 parking spaces.

This measure is in line with the Municipal Executive policy toward a sustained and greener urban mobility that leads to decarbonisation and to meeting the goal of the reduction of CO2 emissions by 50% in 2030.