Seville's Cycling Revolution, 10 times more cycling in 4 years

[Ep. 1018] Seville built a complete Dutch style protected cycling network of 80km from scratch in under two years (2006/2007). It has grown to over 164km since. Find out how well "if you build them, they will come" worked out for this Spanish city! More information in the blog post: bicycledutch.w...

[@FrietjeOorlog]

9% of people cycling will already take a huge bite out of car traffic and congestion. Nice going!

[@jackdeniston59]

Does it though? These are the people who used to take public ( shitty) transport. Also, weather. All you cycle guys ignore rain. The pain of rain. In Spain.

[@frankhooper7871]

@@jackdeniston59 Do you think it doesn't rain in the Netherlands? 🙂

[@FrietjeOorlog]

@@jackdeniston59 How do you know these are all people already not driving? As to the rain: from what I understand that is mainly on the plains ;)

[@Joesolo13]

@@jackdeniston59 Jackets and fenders my friend. And yes, yes it does.

[@Joesolo13]

@Hornisse-Me410 Jacket

[@Patatteke1]

Sevilla is the top; not only for cycling! I (from Holland) cycled a lot in Spain and had great times there : people respect cyclists. One little funny thing in Sevilla: in spring the whole city smells with orange blossoms, and bicycle-lanes are full of oranges on the ground: real big ones. Gave such an exotic feeling....

[@wowJhil]

No danger on the road I hope with all those oranges :D

[@zark0_code]

@@wowJhil They are usually not that big of a deal, but if you are not paying attention, you suddenly feel as if someone taped your handlebars, not dangerous if you know how to react, but certainly scary as you usually font expect it. also its kinda weird to happen.

[@Pollicina_db]

Do they pink up those oranges??? Seems like a hige waste

[@Dadember]

Meanwhile in the UK, everyday I get on the road with my bike, a majority of people seem to want to drive the vehicles in a way that endangers my life

[@migueljoserivera9030]

@@Pollicina_db They are bitter oranges used for orange mermelade, especially in Britain. But generally no, the orange trees are there for their shade and beauty, not the oranges, which end up becoming part of the soil or into the trash to being composted. (These trees are very common in Andalucía and Valencia)

[@Kattbirb]

As another KZbinr put it, "cargo bikes are an indicator species for good biking infrastructure". I'm glad to see cycling become more widespread around the world. I can only hope that the US can adopt better infrastructure as well.

[@antispiritanimal3467]

Berlin has loads of them yet our infrastructure is pretty bad...

[@Derek.Mitchell]

@@antispiritanimal3467 kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5u3qWV3gdSgnMUsi=qkxwqAqkJTKZBbZh

[@Siranoxz]

US is definitely progressing on better and protected bike lanes. Its just a matter of time and political will.

[@kaihang4685]

Sydney has a high cargo bike population especially in the CBD but if you Google “the city that hates bikes”, guess which city comes up…

[@Kytetiger]

Women on bikes and cargobikes

[@pull_up_the_roots]

So nice to see cycling becoming a safe, convenient, and popular alternative in different parts of the world. Thanks for this video!

[@paolagrando5079]

What a great video! Not just showing the infrastructure in Seville, but the change that occurred in a short time. Brilliant!

[@rachelcrawford9553]

I lived in Seville while in university before COVID hit. It was the best time of my life. I did a cycling tour and as I was cycling I passed right by the King of Spain Juan Carlos. While I was working and going to class, I would walk 45 minutes to and back to my place on the other side of the river. It was worth it when I was low on funds and I didn't feel weird or unsafe for doing it because EVERYONE was walking. I miss it so much since coming back to America because everyone is in a car.

[@VitorMadeira]

United States of America's cities and towns are not made for pedestrians.

[@rachelcrawford9553]

@@VitorMadeira Absolutely not. I live in Memphis and people drag race with expired tags. People think they own the roads while they're in their cars. They get mad at bike riders and pedestrians even though they don't have their own lanes to bike and walk. It's all a big ego trip for them.

[@VitorMadeira]

@@rachelcrawford9553I agree. It's so sad. Such an amazing country, but with loads of man-made hard to solve problems...

[@rachelcrawford9553]

@@VitorMadeira The biggest issue is when you start adding in bike lanes and walkable cities, the poor Democrat-lead areas will say its gentrafication. The suburban Republican-lead areas will use scare tactics saying that they are taking cars away and letting in bad people into their backyard.

[@VVVJeroen]

"Some bikepaths feel a bit too busy" Beautiful to see that they have gotten such nice new opportunities for travel. 9% modal share within 4 years is incredible progress.

[@franciscoapr5007]

Good to see that Sevilla is a cycling paradise in Europe. Not only have they the widest, best public transport network a city could dream of: metro, tramway, commuter train, good buses but also it has developped an amazing cycling infraestructure

[@lordsleepyhead]

I want to visit Seville now...

[@PhoenixHen]

Great video! Reminds me of Budapest, where bi-directional cycle tracks are quite narrow, but it seems as Seville has lots more segregated paths. While the segregated cycle paths in Budapest are pretty nice, most cycling infrastructure is still just paint. Would love to cycle in Seville.

[@woutervanr]

Nice, I love seeing these positive changes in other cities

[@diedertspijkerboer]

This is obviously a huge success story, thank you for highlighting it. A like very well deserved.

[@КостяЛопунов]

A comment about group of Dutch cyclists was really cool! Mark, you are a true promoter of cycling, keep up the good work!

[@solokalnesaltam3015]

Something about the pace of the video or narration just put me in a tranquil mood. Very enjoyable video!

[@TakanashiYuuji]

Wonderful! This is so nice for the people of Seville.

[@jekker1000]

I mean, they have the optimal climate for this. Nearly always sunny not a lot of rain. Can not understand Portugal, Italy and Spain having such a big reliance on the car. This development really is wonderful to see

[@monemori]

Mmm... I'm from the region, and let me tell you... The weather is fine for cycling a majority of the year, but you will have a heat stroke if you try to bike in Sevilla during the hotter months. Andalusia has quasi-Saharan weather during summer, and it's not that people don't bike in July, they also won't go outside even to have a walk unless strictly necessary during most of the day until 7-8pm, because the heat is unbearable before that. Still, that's just part of the climate in Souther Europe/Northern Africa, and that's not the fault of bikes of course hehe

[@sergiogarpla2902]

Cycling on summer and winter is not the best idea.

[@florianbirnbaum6584]

Spain has a lot of mountains. Sevilla is flat but try biking in Jaén.

[@Daniel-nt5gh]

Spain is the country with most mountain system in Europe, so that might be a clue.

[@sergiogarpla2902]

@MrPetermc199 try cycling at 50° on the most mountanious country in Europe.

[@AlfonsoSalgueiroLora]

I am from Sevilla and I’ve always been a commited cyclist and have also demonstrated many times when I lived there for a proper cycling network. I’ve had several serious accidents because cars just didn’t respect cyclists. Then I left Sevilla to live abroad and not so long after that they started building the network under a progressive council despite the huge opposition of the conservatives and many local bussines. Now almost everyone in the city is very happy with the cycling network and how it contributed to a cleaner, safer environment. I am very happy the efforts of those who demanded for so long to make cycling safer in Sevilla paid off at the end.

[@kookamunga2458]

I jealous. Over here in most of Canada there is a growing vocal backlash against cycling. Bicycle infrastructure is being built at a snail's pace .

[@peterbedford2610]

Same in US

[@jaapfolmer7791]

Heavily subsidized by 'dark money'? As in: the fossil fuel people?

[@Onedutchbikeinvalencia]

Nice one 😊🇪🇸. Come to Valencia next time, we are also becoming a bycicle friendly city

[@Patatteke1]

I did! Great city also for cycling, a must when you are in Spain! Cycled around Albufera and the coast: had a great time .🥰 Hasta luego.

[@FHRider-o1m]

Wish we had on this trip, next year!

[@Onedutchbikeinvalencia]

@@Patatteke1 😊😊 glad you enjoyed 🚲🚲🚲👏🏼❤️

[@dhgelling]

In some ways better than sevilla too: cycleways connecting to nearby towns are all around Valencia, but in Sevilla the network still has holes in important places

[@lmarts]

​@@quirky-smooths that was mainly due to the efforts of the previous council. Don't expect many improvements with the new one (right wing). They even reverted some measures to allow more traffic into the city center again.

[@FHRider-o1m]

Just blew my mind when I visited in winter, apart from being a fabulous city, the cycle paths were a revelation compared to my home in U.K. The trams and buses were good too.

[@micosstar]

i misread seville with seattle, still a great video about the successes of cycling in cities around the world!

[@alexandergustafson599]

The concept of cycling becoming "socially acceptable" is absolutely mindboggling

[@nick2555v6]

Conocí Sevilla hace unos meses, en general me sentí muy seguro moviéndome por la ciudad en bici. Que pena me dio volver a Canadá, en invierno se cierran todas la ciclovías en mi viaje al trabajo, cada día me arriesgo la vida pero hasta ahora sigo vivo

[@prm126]

thank you for covering the cicle paths of my city!! I use the bike everyday here for going to university and I must agree that we do have an amazing bike lane extension. Although some parts are in a very bad state and some were very badly done with trees and streetlights in the middle of the lane, tree roots lifting the asphalt and potholes. This leads to many people needing to use mountain bikes which is a shame since its not friendly for the ones who want to use a classic bike with thin tires. For now there is no intention on solving this and no new ones are being built. In the center they could make all the existing road network to be fully shared with the bike since no new ones can be built because the narrow cobblestone streets. Many people now are using scooters which is not as beautiful as the bike and NONE of them respect the rules and speed limit but its better than them using a car I guess. Overall its a great start and I cant wait to see it improve :)

[@prm126]

the same day I wrote this, while going back home I had a flat tire because of glass in the bike lane... Respect towards ciclists and city cleanliness is still a pending subject here

[@african8855]

Can you do a video on the pedestrianisation initiatives of Kigali, Rwanda? It is not very well known but I think it is interesting to see the inovations third world countries make. It is centered on walking and cycling and even has bike lanes, something that is very rare but positive for African cities

[@dhanyrafael]

GO RWANDA !! HOPE FOR AFRICA !!

[@Volvo_EG]

Probably quite hard to make a video as flying to Rwanda would cost a ton of money.

[@Nabium]

Yeah but the modernisation project of Kigali has been criticised by NGOs for moving poor people from the city into camps. It's cool Kigali wants to have more non-motorised infrastructure, but, when they do it by putting innocent people in concentration camps then it's not something we should celebrate with a video praising their infrastructure.

[@Welgeldiguniekalias]

@@NabiumReally? By whom? Could you provide a link, or name some of those NGOs?

[@african8855]

@@Nabium Oke I did not know this. But for now I cant find any article on this. Please can you provide a source, Which NGO etc?

[@FHRider-o1m]

Loved Sevilla, bus or cycling was a great way to get into the city from the south, there was a good path from the universidad. Aim for the big attractions like Plaza de Espana, stunning. The old cobbled town further north was easier for walking. Watch out for the street cleaning guy who rides his bike cart on two wheels around corners, I'd seen him on another video about how Sevilla got it's bike lanes, great to see him in real life 😂

[@CreRay]

Really impressive effort, hope it gets a response in other Spanish cities!

[@sergiogarpla2902]

Sevilla is one of the latest to hop on the trend, cities like Valladoliz, Zaragoza, Valencia, Vitoria, San Sebastián and many more are designed for bicycles and electric scooters. Madrid even has its own electric scooter service(bicimad). And on the countryside a lot of towns and cities have roman roads and plenty of bicycle lanes

[@CreRay]

@@sergiogarpla2902 Good to hear that! One more reason to visit Spain😊

[@KJSvitko]

Cargo bikes are great !

[@bz8825]

I lived in Sevilla from September 2022 to July 2023 and I’ve used every means of transport this city can offer. It’s been great to navigate it. Although a bike would be the last thing I’d use in the city centre and its immediate surroundings. As you’ve mentioned, the bike lanes are pretty narrow and sometimes they have trees planted in the middle😅, the ones marked with that “metallic round things” are kinda dangerous too. People are not aware of bikes and many times slaloming in between them you can hit these and fall down. Then, bike lanes are not everywhere and many city roads are pavemented with rocks that make cycling almost impossible in the major part of the city centre. At last but not least, the weather plays an important role. You could cycle without sweating just from November to March… with a decent bike and definitely not with the Sevici ones… which are very heavy and cannot withstand the rocky roads. In my personal experience, walking is the best in Seville, as going by bike really doesn’t cut your travelling times. A great addition are electric scooters (lime, voi, etc.), they do work great in hotter types weathers and they’re pretty cheap.

[@test40323]

No EV is not the future, the humble bicycle is.

[@baronjutter]

EV bikes sure are the future though. A single EV car's worth of battery resources can instead build like 500 e-bikes. yet governments keep offering thousands of dollars for people to buy EV suv's and trucks but nothing for bikes :(

[@test40323]

@@baronjutter , so true. Many South Asian nations are seeing an explosion of ebikes.

[@campaaronapollo]

With electric bicycles, you can have your juice and pedal too!

[@Siranoxz]

@@test40323 Fatbikes are becoming rapidly popular in The Netherlands.. As i do own a fatbike myself.

[@test40323]

@@Siranoxz , cool!

[@cayesuomi]

Actually is not only the Cycling. When I was a kid I lived in Sevilla for 4 years and the traffic was always horrible, specially after the EXPO 92. And still is pretty bad in some designated places (like the ring road SE-30 when passing on the V century bridge). But the city has build all this cycling infrastructure, but also added trams lines in the city center and built metro on 2009 (now a second metro line is being added). It is clear that the city has been for a while trying to improve traffic through the city, and the adding of bike lanes can be the final move in this transition to a more liveable city.

[@DrJo2012]

Very impressive. Thanks for sharing!

[@mono635]

This video is a gold. Thank you!

[@2Kaleb]

Sevillely improved!

[@PhouFoo]

Way to go Seville, you're way ahead of most other EU cities!

[@ulra7574]

Something similar is happening in the neighbor city Málaga. However, in nearby city Granada it is complicated as there are very steep streets!

[@marymccluer1630]

Impressive!

[@leonardoluc6362]

Wonderful as i am from Amsterdam, keep going.

[@Andy_Novosad]

Beautiful. In my city, the only thing left to do is to get rid of all those damn hills everywhere, which Seville seems don't have much of. After riding a bicycle here, you arrive at your destination like a squeezed lemon and soaking wet of sweat.

[@Schokland2007]

Get an electric 🚲

[@Andy_Novosad]

@@Schokland2007 What's the point of having a bicycle, even electric, at all then? I'd rather take the trolleybus or bus instead.

[@Schokland2007]

@@Andy_Novosad ?

[@mindstalk]

@@Andy_Novosad If you have good trolleys, great. But it's useful for bikes to also be a safe option. More on demand, can be faster, can carry more.

[@fryfrysk]

Good start , Sevilla 😀 !

[@siriosstar4789]

It's the weather . lots of cities have similar statistics for bike lanes and rental bikes . it's the warm weather that is the main contributing factor for increased riders.

[@Siranoxz]

If Spain keeps this up, then i guess Spain can claim their cycling infrastructure to be top notch next to us Dutch.

[@Blackadder75]

well, maybe in 2050 and only if they increase their efforts by 500%

[@loloflores123]

Definitely dutch cycling is a role model for us spaniards. You guys lead the way, we will follow your steps! Greetings

[@Daniel-nt5gh]

We have a huge difference, Spain is the country in Europe with most mountain systems, whilst The Netherlands has 0, is totally flat, just Madrid City is way way harder to climb it's hills, that all the up's and downs that the hole country of Netherlands has.

[@Sp4mMe]

I was there some years ago, before this change. Driving was an absolute nightmare, one of the worst cities to drive around in. Don't know whether it improved general traffic too but I'd assume so - good change all around.

[@bluceree7312]

I wish Madrid was the same. Yes there are a lots of cycling infrastructure, but most of it, at least for the time I lived there, was only used by couriers for food delivery. Women, or older people cycling in Madrid? forget about it. Its as if there is a stigma around it - only plebs commute with a bicycle. A wealthy rich executive socialite will never stoop so low.

[@studebaker4217]

Well done, Seville. This kind of vision is totally lacking in the UK, even today. Mindless bureaucrats are our national specialism (e.g. they would insist on high vis gear and helmets, etc, until there was zero interest).

[@nadie823]

Some years ago Málaga had the same public bikes system, but the city administration decided to stop its funding and instead made all personal vehicles public transport a thing of the private sector. Then there are no more bikes, only electric scooters are offered and they are quite expensive especially compared with the price of Sevilla's bike rental (around 60 - 30 euros a year and you can use any bike in the city is one of the options). I wish it came back for Málaga as well

[@jonathansimmonds5784]

There's so much negativity in the UK from car drivers, I hope our city planners are brave enough to create cycle routes as good as this rather than the half hearted attempts often seen.

[@pedro01f]

Happy to see. I want more people cycling

[@spaghettiking7312]

If there's a will, there's a way. Removing car dependency is simply a matter of policy reform.

[@csonttot7819]

that is so good to see

[@chriscohlmeyer4735]

Build it, add to it, adjust early built cycle lanes, add, adjust/redesign, expand...

[@nikotakai8796]

Los Bonn, wir schaffen das auch!

[@os3990]

I want to visit now

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Beautiful city!

[@muffinelite7494]

Good video! Just subscribed! Some thoughts: The video quality is quite low. Also, some graphs/more maps would be appreciated.

[@jacekostaszewski-oska8930]

Thank you

[@channtron]

You have to add also that the streets on the center are all really narrow to combat summer heat, which leads to mostly one way street with one line mostly for street parking and horrible parking experience. Which leads to scoter and bike usage. But for example the biggest failure in the bike infrastructure of Seville would be Asuncion. A bike lane in the main pedestrian street that connects one neighbourhood with the center. As the street was made walkable, it became so crowded that bikes were forbidden to use the lane up until 10pm. Also there are a lot of collisions between pedestrian and bikes (well, mostly e-scooters) and the bikers are usually hated by some... By nonetheless, a win.

[@calimero6356]

That is a good thing but it requires a change of mindset regarding to the use of car. The local government is useless, for example, they plan to build two more lines of underground where one line won´t be connected to the other underground line (1 and 2), unthinkable in any other city in the world. Running both of them in parallel.

[@isaks7042]

Seville also have good geographical conditions for cycling. Its flat, warm and it doesn't rain often.

[@Urbanhandyman]

An entire network in two years sounds like fantasy to me. In near-to-me Berkeley, California, a short .6 mile/1 kilometer bike lane was met with years of neighborhood opposition furious at the proposal to remove car street parking. The City of Berkeley recently decided to stop all planning work and has abandoned the project.

[@mindstalk]

Hopkins? That's so infuriating.

[@Urbanhandyman]

@@mindstalk Yes.

[@driewiel]

And there is a barber in Seville for if your hair gets messed up on the bike.

[@popatop75]

thanks as always; wondering though is a bike ticket going down wrong on a one way street the same charge as a auto?? are tickets differant prices?? thanks again

[@CharlesG-d7q]

I've been cycling daily in Seville for over a year now and it's great! The city center is a bit of a mess, in front of La Giralda it's better to walk, but you can go basically everywhere on bike lanes, even if you want to go to a nearby town like Camas, there are bike lanes to there That said, you can't really go out in the summer in the midday unless you want to become a fried egg

[@combinasion8829]

Excellent!

[@mariajoseuseromatute515]

I use the bike lanes in Sevilla everyday. The big difference between Amsterdam and here is that the speeds are lower and it is less imtimidating. A negative here is you can not take bikes on the bus, metro, or trams.

[@ninodv9839]

Ah noo, we can't be the only ones that cycle side by side!

[@angusmackaskill3035]

Jack up the price of gas beyond affordability. Oil companies rake in the cash, bicycle companies rake in the cash and the public health care system saves money

[@bluettr250]

You listening Portland?

[@moshpic]

Love it❤

[@Frahamen]

Yeah letting cyclist ride both ways in one way streets is really a nobrainer. It immediately makes the bicycle the most convenient and fastest way to go through the city, it doesn't need any extra infrastructure besides maybe some signs and it is inherently safe because a driver can't miss a cyclist if the cyclist is going in the other direction, straight to you.

[@PierredeCur]

It was done thanks to the obstination of Izquierda Unida, the more on the left party that ruled Seville with the socialist of the PSOE then. It was done "sí o sí", as we say here. That's the reason there are some glitches that are being fixed little by little. If something was difficult to do, they did it anyway instead of waiting. The problem is that, every time the right rules, like now, all work is stopped as they seem to believe that cycling is only for the leftists and the poor who do not vote for them...

[@ttopero]

Do Sevillans not ride in groups? Or is it a visitor/tourist thing?

[@ayw5118]

Say no to private cars, yes to cycling, public transportation and affordable e hailing taxis.

[@eskay_mochi]

Induced demand used in a good way.

[@reynoldeuler9802]

Warum gelingt das deutschen Städten nicht?

[@fchiefe]

Hi please consider making a TikTok account so I can share on other platforms! Thanks for the videos!

[@sergicanya]

Do you have any information about cycling routines in Winter compared to those in Summer? I'm happily surprised about seeing a Spanish city like that, but I realized that all images are from Winter times. In Summer, with many months clearly hitting >30 degrees, I wonder how many people are still happy to hit the pedals on their daily commute :P

[@HolgerJakobs]

Very well made, but many of these cycle paths are quite narrow.

[@tomasbeltran04050]

You talk like "Lost in the Pond" (anoðer KZbin channel). þx for uploading

[@katynewt]

We desperately need this in Japan. Cyclists often have to flip between pavements and roads, and in many towns, the pavements are too narrow for even pedestrians. The culture here is unfortunately very car-centric...

[@TheNiteinjail]

The ONLY solve for traffic congestion... Multiple modes.

[@diedertspijkerboer]

Judging from the infrastructure, I think it proves that people will come if you make cycling infrastructure safe. Painting lines on roads with heavy car traffic doesn't work, making protected cycle lanes does.

[@JL-sn1wn]

please do valencia

[@stevecarter8810]

Inspiring. I would love to hear about the political aspect: how they approached it with the populations, who objected, who was engaged as technical consultants, compromises along the way... Did they just get some Dutch guys and build it all during siesta time so nobody would notice?

[@BicycleDutch]

All the answers to those questions in the blog post. See link in the description box.

[@stevecarter8810]

@@BicycleDutchvery cool, thank you! (it was the siesta thing, wasn't it)

[@loloflores123]

Every time some random steve makes a comment about siesta, it feels offensive.

[@stevecarter8810]

@@loloflores123 whereas your comment actually is offensive, ah modern times

[@loloflores123]

@@stevecarter8810 c´mon Steve, you meant that spaniards are lazy and incapable of building even a bike line, etc. etc. I know the lingo, it reeks to cultural superiority. Don´t play innocent.

[@CollapsingRealities]

I bet many people watched this video expecting to see something like the Dutch cycling system and... I mean, I'm Spanish myself and I... 😁

[@VitorMadeira]

Quite a flat place in the world, so I guess that would help a lot. Now compare it to Portugal's hilly Lisbon or Porto... 😬😬

[@justincase4812]

Didn't explain how.

[@wenroosaretin8966]

AMEN.

[@igordugonjic]

❤❤

[@midasghijsels]

👍👍👍

[@ava-he9li]

Sevilla, el tercer mundo de españa ❤

[@ixian_technocrat]

You sound like a National Geographic presenter 👍

[@Roque-Cachamuiña-gs1wd]

The big problem with cycling in Spain is that we are, after Switzerland, the most mountainous country in Europe.

[@kev2034]

The increasing popularity of e-bikes is probably a god send for those regions though.

[@mindstalk]

Most bike trips are just a few km within a city, not biking across the country.

[@williamlouie569]

In this case if you built it they will come!

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

"If you build it, they will come"

[@rodrigosouto9502]

Just build the cyclepaths. People will come.

[@CruelViper88]

This just proves it again...if you build it...ppl will use it

[@josepg.2479]

I'm spanish cyclist and I have to say that this is just a mirage (at least for now), meanwhile cars drivers don't respect all of those bicicle tracks and cyclists in general, Spain won't be an urban cycle country, here there's too much people disrespectful.

[@Arjay404]

This looks great! Thought that box at 2:09 should be removed/moved, that's a terrible place for that.

[@Ultrapro011]

In israel there are a lot of bicycles too but they use the electric ones and drive dangerously