After a few days or more of studies there some reflections and after to put on the way one of my theories I dare to expose you the first one.
There is one question that lately is consuming my mind. Why in Quito, “quiteños”[1] are desperate and disorder using the city? And why in Barcelona the same people is relax, never complain and they also are satisfy with the services?
Idiosyncrasy, that’s it.
As most of the people in the world when you simply don’t know how to act, you just copy the rest of the people, but what happened when in some cases we are not able to copy, we just show our best.
In Barcelona where actually I live analyzing it, they have an “efficient” system for transportation,
A good metro system, integrated with regular buses, “nit buses[2]” trans and trains, it to me means that pedestrians have more and better opportunities to use the city comfortable. For bikers whose that already have a new system that helps them to circulate relatively save, have to pay an amount, considerable cheap, per year, to use the bikes that the city provides. Those are use for small internal trips around 30 minutes of run, after that if is necessary for long distances is possible to change the bike given pass 10 minutes approximately .It also includes the accommodation of the bikes in proper parking lots around the city. I should mention that those are really close one of each other. The bikes are not professionals neither specialized for mountains. For motorcycles, in my opinion are quite similar in efficient that the bikes to circulate in the streets, have cheap parking lots, the gas is cheap also, consume is the minimum and for the traffic are perfect to dodge the cars and people.
Talking some about the laws, in Barcelona they still don`t have nothing clear. The fees are for car, tracks, taxis, etc, drivers and regular pedestrians, but who are the bikers? For them also they have some fines when they pass the time to come back the bike or to park in not proper places and those are really cheap.
Well, knowing some about Barcelona general systems of transportation lets talk how “quiteños” whose constitute one of the most important fringe of migrants based in this city, use it!
We prefer the regular buses and “nit” buses too over the metro; we love to see the city and off course is good for our sense of orientation, because in Barcelona in deference with Quito they don’t have our Pichincha to help. We use the to enjoy the view during the long distances that we usually take, we are not people who love to read uncomfortable or to permanent blind or in darkness in crowds.
We use bikes, yes, but not so often, because the distances that we need to run are always longer than 30 minutes.
At this point, I would like to put on the table one personal reflection.
In Quito around 70% of the population likes to live and to work or study in different sites of the city, like for example people form the south use to work in the southern part farther form their houses, or well in the northern part of the city. If you live in the north-western is obvious that your job must be in the valleys around the city or in the central part, why? So it means that most of us like to run a lot. Shouldn’t be consider something criminal or illogical off course is just the result, reaction or secondary effect of the first urban plan projected by Gilberto Gato Sobral, which by the way is still in force in its beginning.
If you are able to remember the plan, basically demand the segregation of uses in the city, for example, for sports and education is the area from the Coliseum General Rumiñahui, Los Quitus and Los Chasquis, the National Polytechnic University, the Pope Catholic University of Ecuador PUCE, the El Egido park, furthermore is Central University until the western site of Quito in Occidental Avenue including a lag of the Carolina Park an to finalize with the Olympic Stadium Atahualpa. The industrial zone is located basically in the south part of Quito, behind the Panecillo; for housing, in the north part of the city, in direct communication with the sport city, and the historical center, that runs form western to eastern.
I consider important to mention that this radical and non efficient segregation of uses, as we know today, created in the population the stigma of separate their needs.
To me, after this brief analysis of the past development of “Distrito Metropolitano de Quito”[3] and trying to justify one of the causes for the bad system of traffic in Quito I am able to move the theory to all the quiteños in the world have.
Once again I clarify; this is not about to change the city, is relative to our education. The urbanism and the sociology must go together always, now I see it, why we didn’t see this before? I would like to say that now in Quito we need a SOCIOLOGYSIM.
Coming back to quiteños in Barcelona and in Quito at the same time, it says that we are perfectly able to take a clean and efficient bus for longer than 30 minutes twice per day, but we are not able to pay more than once, it means we are in the wave of integration, but not on the metro fast way.
Why we don’t use bikes? This is simple. For 30 minutes by bus means that by bike is more that 1 hour at least, inefficient for go to our jobs daily, but to enjoy the city and make some sports is totally accepted, even claim.
Again the response is not in the change of the city, is not to spend lots of money in advertizing or in more new and creative urban plans, we need EDUCATION. What kind of it? How to put in practice? Whose should be the goals? When can we have access, who is going to be the teacher?
To use a bike is easy, we do it form our childhood, to implement the system is also cheap and efficient too, but, what can happened if one day we wake up with the pedestrians and the bikers decide to fight against one of each other? And the cars are be in one side of the problem trying to be apart of them, at that time maybe they can be the solution?
Something interest is coming to my mind now, is not revolutionary is not superficial not expensive, even not new, is called SOLIDARITY.
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