MOBILIDADE URBANA: Análise da ciclomobilidade na cidade de São Paulo

Resumo (EN)

Urban mobility in city centers has been recognized as a major challenge for municipal, state, and federal managers, with extensive international discussions on how to improve infrastructure, facilitate travel, and reduce environmental impacts. The established culture of individual motor vehicle use has resulted in severe consequences for people’s health, such as stress and respiratory problems, in addition to traffic congestion and high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. As an alternative to these problems, electromobility systems and the adoption of active mobility are currently being encouraged whenever possible. Active mobility consists of walking and cycling for transportation, with cycling being a better alternative due to its ability to cover greater distances without pollutant emissions. However, the adoption of the bicycle as a means of transport faces significant obstacles, such as the lack of adequate road infrastructure, absence of facilities for cyclist hygiene, and secure parking for bicycles at workplaces, as well as users’ physical fitness and safety concerns during travel. While some of these barriers relate to actions by public authorities and companies, industries see electricity and the benefits of physical activity as ways to convince more users to adopt the bicycle as a mode of transport. In this context, the present thesis aims to identify the factors that favor the use of the bicycle as a vehicle for active mobility and the challenges faced by cyclists in urban centers, considering the scenario of São Paulo in relation to the ten leading cities worldwide that offer better structures for cyclists, according to the Global Bicycle Cities Index (GBCI) 2022 ranking. To achieve this general objective, four articles were produced: (I) Comparison of the city of São Paulo with the top ten cities in the GBCI-2022 using descriptive statistics; (II) analysis of cyclomobility patterns of the highest-ranked cities in the GBCI by continent using Social Network Analysis (SNA); (III) Analysis of infrastructure offered to cyclists in five Brazilian capitals using QGIS software and Pearson correlation; and (IV) Analysis of socioeconomic impacts on mobility patterns through Cross Tabulation and Bivariate Descriptive Statistics. The results produced by the articles, combined with the literature review on international initiatives to encourage bicycle use, provided a broad and deep understanding of the challenges presented by urban bicycle mobility in the city of São Paulo.