Urban Cycling: Efficient mode of transport draws safety concerns in Mexico City

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Mexico City is one of the world's largest urban areas. Bicycle-riding has helped transform the city's congested roads in recent years. But despite its health and environmental benefits, cycling has hit a few urban hazards, as Alasdair Baverstock reports.

Sunday morning in Mexico City, when the capital's main thoroughfare, Paseo de la Reforma, is closed to traffic. People come out by the thousands to walk their dogs, go jogging, and in particular, ride bicycles. It's just one of many initiatives implemented over the past two decades to boost cycling in one of the world's most traffic-clogged cities.

ARTURO ORTIZ MEXICO CITY RESIDENT "Due to the quantity of traffic in this city, it has become more efficient to ride a bicycle. Advancing three-hundred meters in a car could take forty minutes at rush hour, while you can cover that distance in two minutes on a bicycle."

But it's not just on Sundays that cyclists come out in force.

ALASDAIR BAVERSTOCK MEXICO CITY "As a mode of transport, cycling has been promoted by the capital's government since the turn of the century. Today, Mexico City has more than 170 kilometers of dedicated bicycle lanes, and some 250-thousand citizens make use of the government-backed EcoBici rental program."

While cycling infrastructure may have improved, safety concerns are ever-present. Roman Gabriel lost his daughter Monserrat in 2015, when she was killed in a cycling accident on the same Paseo de la Reforma.

ROMAN GABRIEL DAUGHTER KILLED IN ACCIDENT "She was killed while riding in a cycle lane, but the city planning had put it next to a lane in which heavy goods vehicle could travel, and nothing has been done to rectify this since her death."

Monserrat's case does not stand alone. Official figures show an average of six cyclists die on the roads of Mexico City every year. Some safety advocates say the true number is much higher. Areli Carreon is a leading campaigner for cycling- and serves unofficially as Mexico City's "bicycle mayor". She says a cultural change in understanding is necessary.

ARELI CARREON MEXICO CITY 'BICYCLE MAYOR' "Bicycling has been seen for many years as a dangerous activity, but it's not dangerous by itself. It's dangerous when a big car, a very aggressive one, is around you. What we need is better places for doing this as well as a public idea that this is needed, this is helpful, and this is something that people want to do."

As more cyclists take to the roads of the capital, the authorities must work to ensure the safety of all who share these streets. Advocates have set a goal for 50 percent of all urban trips to be made on two wheels - by 2030. Alasdair Baverstock, CGTN, Mexico City.