In an article recently published in British newspaper The Guardian about cycling in the cities' post-Covid recovery plans, the example of Lisbon is given and the promise to expand its cycling network to about 200 km this year. The accompanying photograph is of Duque d'Ávila, one of the city's first bicycle paths, which does not appear empty, quite the contrary: in a close-up, you see at least five cyclists (one of them in the background), all relaying from Uber Eats, Glovo, or both.
And this is where the problem "lies". The meter on Avenida Duque d'Ávila, in Saldanha, is the only one in the city (for now - 34 bike lane monitoring sensors should be installed by summer) and it may not be telling the whole story. O annual count report signed by Instituto Superior Técnico realizes that about 5% of cyclists in Lisbon are couriers serving the Glovo and Uber Eats platformsThis percentage more than doubled compared to the previous year, when only 1.5% of the cyclists were relay riders.
The increase in relay riders is due to people staying at home more and not frequenting restaurants as much, notably in May 2020, when over 6% of the observed cyclists were relay riders.
- CML-Ativos: 2nd Report: Analysis of Bicycle Counts Data (2020)
One of the areas of greatest affluence of these food couriers is Saldanha, which serves as a central point in the cycling network and network of food delivery, since around them there are many restaurants and several residential neighborhoods. In order to be able to take considerable revenue from Glovo and Uber Eats at the end of the day, the couriers try to wait for users' orders in these areas of greatest demandIt then moves around the surrounding area in a constant back and forth. Passing through Saldanha, particularly during the lunch and dinner periods, it is possible to observe several relays accumulated, for example, at the intersection of Avenida da República and Avenida Duque d'Ávila on the McDonald's side.
The bicycle path along Avenida Duque d'Ávila allows you to reach several residential areas, both on the Arroios and São Sebastião sides, and is therefore an important distribution axis for these precarious workers. O installed counter on that bike path will translate this affluence. "The fact that the values of the only automatic cyclist counter being placed in an area where there is a food pick up site have reached historic highs is understandable in the times we live in."comments Rosa Félix, one of the authors of the annual counting study conducted by Técnico for the Lisbon City Hall. "But I don't doubt that if it was on any other cycling route, that it would have broken its record lately, too. You only have to go out on the street to see that a lot more people are cycling than a year ago, and I'm glad there are counters and observations within studies, with concrete numbers, that can measure that phenomenon."
Since the beginning of 2021, the number of passages in the Duque d'Ávila Avenue bike lane has increased substantially, coinciding with the confinement period during which the restaurants could be open and serving in take-away. For the first time, in January, more than 40 thousand monthly passages were registered on Avenida Duque d'Ávila, about 20 thousand in each direction. Already in March, the figures have risen to well-nigh 60,000 tickets, close to 30,000 each way. For reference, between September and December 2020, monthly fares ranged from 33,000 to 38,000.
In March, in the week between the 15th and 21st, 12950 crossings were recorded, and it was the most popular week since that meter has been installed and since the existence of that bike path. That was almost 2,000 bikes per day, an increase of 820% over 2016 figures.
Many internet users question the use of the bike paths in the city of Lisbon, mentioning, for example, that they are empty and that the only users are food couriers. The term "bikeway" has become commonplace, even with the study by the Instituto Superior Técnico pointing to a growth of 25% in bicycle use in the city from 2019 to 2020 and quantifying that on the Almirante de Reis bikeway, installed in May of last year, this increase was 140%. In the counts, by the way, only 5% of the observed cyclists on the road were parkers.
"They are still people who commute by bicycle. They're cyclists like everyone else, but instead of going to school or going for a walk, they're on business, and I'm glad they're doing it by bicycle - the alternative would be motorcycle or car."Rosa Félix points out. It should be noted that Técnico's counting report does not account for trips at all times; during the afternoon, the counting ends at 8 pm. "I would say that the percentage of relays during the following hours will be quite a bit higher than the 5 or 6%."
Explaining the spikes in the meter on Avenida Duque d'Ávila will also be the use of the bicycle as an escape from the routine that is lived at home these days. The confinement, the improvement of the pandemic situation, and the good weather felt during the month of March will have led many people to get out of the house and go for a ride around the city. It is possible to observe several families doing it, especially on the weekend, when more bicycles were counted on the Duque d'Ávila bike lane - figures above two thousand daily passes, while during the week they would come close to that goal without passing it.
