Bogota's progressive Domingo Ciclovia (literally Sunday's Bike Path)

Ciclovia

Map of Bogota's Ciclovia

It is wonderful! Every Sunday (of the year) some streets/avenues in Bogota are closed to enable people to bike, skate, skateboard, run and/or walk safely, even dogs are joining in. They remain closed from 7am till 2pm. Just to name a few of the closed streets: Avenida Boyaca, Avenida Cordoba, Avenida El Dorado, Carrera: 7, 50, Septima, Calles: 17 sur, 26, 72, 116, 170 This speaks to how athletic the people of Bogota are (and most of Colombia).

The only thing I can think of that happen like this in New York is the occasional closing of the Saw Mill River Parkway in the summer and the occasional closing of Park Avenue in Manhattan, both of which are for the same reason as in Bogota.

I am including a short article that briefly explains the history of Ciclovia de Domingo. http://www.sundaystreetssf.com/history-of-ss-and-ciclovia/

Although on a normal day Bogota's air is filled with pollution from the numerous cars, buses and Transmilenio. Nonetheless, when in Colombia it is impossible to ignore how environmentally conscious Colombians are. Do NOT leave the lights on if you are not in the room. Do NOT leave a charger (or something similar) plugged into the wall if it is not in use. Separate your recycling, "food garbage" aka compost, and trash. Furthermore, they turn off the hot water if it is not in use.

It is so crucial for other places to follow in Bogota's footsteps with its desire to bring communities together (Sunday biking), it can also be beneficial to fighting the United States' obesity epidemic (in my opinion it is an epidemic). Additionally, I can't see how it would not be beneficial for more people/places to adopt Colombia's environmentally conscious mind-set.

P.S. I took part in Ciclovia today :). I however walked/jogged from near the TransMilenio station Humedal Cordoba to Usaquen, not too far but still good exercise.