Non-motorized modes are recognized as accessible, equitable, affordable and sustainable modes
Background
Santiago, the capital of Chile has an urban population of five million (ITDP). Like many countries in the Global South, walking remains the mode of transport for the majority in Chile, especially for lower-middle income groups, and particularly for care-related tasks performed mainly by women (Tirachini, A. 2019).
In 2015, the Ministry published what is now the core Non -Motorized Transport (NMT) document in Chile, a manual for inclusive road design. Its key goals were to support national urban development policies regarding NMT and provide technical knowledge to decision-makers related to NMT. The publication developed out of the 2014 National Urban Development Policy, which recognized the way in which motorized traffic had monopolized public and urban space.
The vision of the Vialidad Ciclo-Inclusiva is that streets operate from a user-centered design: the document seeks to deliver guidelines for safe and comfortable road infrastructure that delivers satisfaction to users and results in a better urban experience for all. Non-motorized modes are recognized as accessible, equitable, affordable and sustainable modes. The Guidelines set out the following objectives:
- That bicycles must be recognized and integrated into multi-modal traffic
- That all urban roads are cycle-inclusive
- That bicycle paths are by default considered in roads planning, traffic volume and speed-permitting
- Where traffic volumes and road speeds are inappropriate for shared spaces, exclusive facilities will be provided.
Challenges
Chile’s public investments, together with urban planning and regulations have been more car-centered at the cost of other modes, particularly walking and cycling. Pedestrian space is insufficient. There is lack of investment in sidewalks and where they do exist, there is poor maintenance.
Successes
A significant participatory effort led by citizens (Living City) as well as local and regional governments, with support from a Dutch NGO, has seen the increase of cycling’s modal share in a relatively short period (2006-2012) to 3% (Sagaris, 2014). Today, thanks to this ongoing civil society engagement, Chile and Santiago in particular has an NMT Master plan as well as funding policies, and a new design manual for inclusive streets. The Santiago NMT Master plan aims to raise walking from 38% to 40% mode share by 2020 and cycling form 4% to 20% by 2020. The idea is to target trips under 2 km as walking trips – by ensuring that grocery stores/basic supplies/ primary schools are all within such a distance.
In 2017, Santiago won the International Sustainable Transportation award for improvements in major public spaces, cycling, and public transport. The city not only transformed car-centric corridors into pedestrian friendly spaces, but also incorporated policy changes and education programs with a design that redistributes road space to create more space for cyclists.
