Two sections of the cycle path network of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Bicivia, have generated a social and economic return equivalent to three million euros in a few years, according to a study led by the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville, in collaboration with the Metropolis Institute.
As reported by the AMB this Thursday in a statement, the two sections with high economic and social profitability are the seventh axis of Bicivia, which connects Esplugues de Llobregat with Barcelona from Diagonal Avenue, and the first axis, from the polygon from the Free Zone to the Free Zone promenade.
The results studied show that the seventh section of the network, which had a cost of 1.73 million euros in 2018, currently has a positive return of two million euros and will generate a total of 15.26 million over a period of three decades. since its construction.
For its part, the first Bicivia axle cost 878,000 euros, and has already generated a million euros in return, with the forecast of a profit of 9.85 million euros in its first three decades of operation.
The AMB has highlighted that both investments indicate a sign of economic viability and that the initial investment was recovered in just three or five years in both cases after the construction of the infrastructure.
The study has compared the costs and benefits generated by the construction of cycle paths, calculating the economic value of various social or environmental returns.
Among the factors included in the calculation are the cost of construction and maintenance, the savings in users' time in their daily lives, the effects of reduced mortality, changes in health habits, and the reduction in emissions. pollutants.
The AMB Bike service is a network of paths for bicycles and personal mobility vehicles in the metropolitan area of Barcelona that encompasses several municipalities, and which is currently 65% complete.
The network has nine main axes with more than 550 kilometers in total, and when completed it will cross the metropolitan territory from north to south and from west to east directly.
After the first deployment of the cycle lane network, between 2019 and 2021, the AMB detected a global increase in traffic on the Bicivia network of 49%, especially personal mobility vehicles, whose use increased by 123% in that period .
