Challenges in promoting bike-bus integration in developing countries: Case study of Fortaleza, Brazil

Abstract

Cycling to access or egress from public transport (PT) systems potentially improves accessibility to opportunities for PT-dependent populations, which can reduce socio-spatial inequalities. While developing countries may benefit from the affordability and sustainability of bicycle-transit integration, current scientific research on the topic focuses mostly on metropolises in the industrialized world. Furthermore, Global South cities that invest in such systems see their population resistant to adopting the solutions well received in the North. This paper adapts a bicycle-transit conceptual model to the reality of Latin American metropolises to serve as a characterization tool to empirically investigate the barriers and challenges inhibiting large developing cities from benefiting from it. Fortaleza, a mid-sized Brazilian metropolis with recent significant investments in bicycle-transit integration, serves as a case study. All analyses are based on surveys with bike-sharing and bike-parking facilities users, associated with data from bus-system smartcard validation. The analyses aim at both supply and demand conditions to evaluate their policy implications. The challenges faced by North and Global South cities regarding bicycle-transit integration seem to be similar in terms of infrastructural necessities and outcomes (travel speeds, road safety, and comfort); however, they are significantly different in terms of hindering costs and public safety, which affect users’ behavior. Discussions revolve around how to attract new users while keeping costs at bay, as well as how public safety plays a key role in the Latin American context.