With new funding, the cooperative Bicicultura, which operates the Municipal Bicycle Train Program in Lisbon, wants to take its experience and knowledge to other parts of the country.
It was in Parque das Nações that, in 2015, some parents started accompanying groups of children on bicycles to school. They call it "CycleExpress", an idea that was eventually replicated in other schools in Lisbon, taken to Aveiro and already reproduced in a more informal way in areas such as Alfragide. In 2019, the Lisbon City Council decided to turn these "CicloExpressos" into a Municipal Program - it renamed them as "Bicycle Trains" and allowed an initiative that was born among the community to take hold and grow.
Lisbon City Hall ensures the management and main communication of the Bicycle Trains, but these are operationalized on the ground by the cooperative Bicicultura, which now intends to take this idea to other cities and towns in the country. Through the +PLUS fund of Casa do Impacto/Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Bicicultura intends to create train lines in other parts of the country, besides the Portuguese capital. The challenge is to decide where.
To help with this decision, Bicicultura decided to open an inscription sheet with the intention that local communities, such as municipal councils, parish councils, school groups, parents, or associations, may show interest in the development of a bicycle train in your area. The form is open to the whole country and, of course, to the entire Lisbon Metropolitan Area as well.
The bike trains aim to create a safe and fun way for little ones to commute to school, promoting a more active and less car-dependent lifestyle, and also the future autonomy of children in public space. In Lisbon, there are already reports of kids and girls who, after taking part in the trains, started to bike to school on their own.
From Lisbon to the rest of the country
During the 2021/22 school year, they moved around Lisbon 15 Bicycle Trains - most with at least one line per week, some schools had more than one line per week or, in some cases, daily lines. Each Bicycle Train has one adult ("driver") for every four children, there is personal accident and liability insurance taken out for each participant, and a WhatsApp group where relevant information is shared with parents.
Do you want to help Biciculture decide where we will create new trains? Tell us your school, parish or town by filling out this formAnd share it with other people in your community who also want to encourage this project. The more responses we get for your location of choice, the more likely it is that Biciculture will consider you in the top two priorities. By collecting these answers, the cooperative will have data that will allow it to go strengthened to meetings with the respective municipal bodies, with the purpose of presenting this project and launching a bicycle train in your community.
Experience has shown Bicicultura that one of the keys to the trains' success lies in the ability to involve and energize the local community. Among parents and grandparents, friends, teachers, local associations, and elements of the political power, everyone has played an important role in promoting and implementing this healthy, sustainable, safe, and fun mobility alternative. If you need more information, you can always contact us by e-mail comboios@bicicultura.org.
