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Quito, a pioneer city in Latin America with electric bicycles in the public system
Posted On 08 Jul 2016
In Quito, a city 2,800 meters above sea level and crossed by exhausting hills, electric bicycles save gasps to many users, who pedal effortlessly in this Latin American city, a pioneer in offering them in its public transport system.
“The electric bike is a lot easier. Sometimes I have to wear suits, formal clothes, and you do not sweat, you just pedal the bike and the engine is in charge of the rest,” said David Alvarez, a private employee, 28.
At 07:00, at a crowded BiciQuito station, the bicycle rental service of the Ecuadorean capital, David has just requested ‘the usual’: a ‘bicielectrica,’ which is different from the conventional ones for its orange color and the engine that sticks out of the frame and that assists the pedaling without replacing it completely.
With 25 stations in the center and north of the city, where banks, offices and universities are concentrated, BiciQuito works since August 2012. And since last April, it also includes electric bicycles.
