Montevideo's cycling policy against Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile

Let's start by setting things at their true size, because without that the comparison means nothing. Montevideo has a little over 1.3 million inhabitants, counting the whole department. The city of Buenos Aires has a little over 3 million — and its metropolitan area, around fifteen. Greater Santiago is over 8 million. They're three different realities: a small, compact capital; a vast metropolis; and a metro area split across many comunas (boroughs). Each comes to the bike from a different starting point, which is why what matters isn't the totals but the decisions.

Buenos Aires: the early mover. Over the past decade the city of Buenos Aires built one of the most extensive bike-lane networks in the region — 310 kilometres, by the city's own count, in early 2026 — and runs Ecobici, a well-established public bike system: around 380 stations, with a basic plan free for residents. The shift shows in how people move around the city: cycling now accounts for about 7% of all trips, against 0.4% in 2009. Its strength is twofold: scale and continuity. While other cities started and stopped, Buenos Aires sustained the policy across several administrations, and that — more than any stray kilometre — is what builds a cycling culture.

Santiago: big and scattered. Greater Santiago's network is, in kilometres, the longest of the three — close to 480 — but with two large asterisks. The first: the regional government itself acknowledges that around 80% of that network doesn't meet the current technical standard, so counting those stretches inflates the figure. The second: it's split across dozens of autonomous comunas (boroughs), each with its own government and its own criteria, and its public bike system (Bike Itaú) is in retreat: it ran in several comunas and, since March 2025, operates in barely three — and it's paid. The result is a network that exists but doesn't always connect: stretches that die at a borough's edge because the one next door didn't continue. Santiago's lesson is, above all, about governance: a fragmented city builds a fragmented network. Which is why its big current bet is a Master Plan to unify standards and reach 820 km by 2035.

Montevideo: small, but with advantages that don't show. In absolute kilometres, Montevideo's network is the shortest of the three — 77 km, according to the city government, as of September 2024 — which is to be expected for its size. But there are two things the total hides. The first is governance: the whole city answers to a single authority, the Intendencia, without the fragmentation that tangles Santiago. What Montevideo decides for the bike, it decides for the whole city at once. The second is the rambla: a waterfront corridor tens of kilometres long that few capitals have, much of it already cycle-ready, a geographic base neither Buenos Aires nor Santiago has. Where Montevideo clearly lags is the public bike system. It had one, Movete, which launched in 2014 with eight stations in the Ciudad Vieja, the old city, and never expanded; in 2019 the tender to relaunch it drew no bids, the bikes were removed, and the city has had no public bike system since. It's the only one of the three without a running system, and that's the piece most missing.

The scoreboard, no tricks. Put together, and segmented by what each thing measures:

• Network in absolute kilometres: Santiago first (~480), Buenos Aires second (310), Montevideo third (77). But this measures city size as much as ambition — and the Santiago figure is inflated by stretches that don't meet the standard.
• Coverage for the size you have: per 100,000 inhabitants, Buenos Aires leads comfortably (close to 10 km), and Montevideo and Santiago come out roughly even and much lower (around 6 each). This is where the comparison turns fair: adjusted for size, Montevideo isn't behind Santiago — it edges slightly ahead — and the gap widens in its favour once you discount the low quality of much of the Santiago network.
• Public bike system: Buenos Aires clearly ahead (Ecobici, with a free plan); Santiago has one that's partial and paid; Montevideo has none. It's the furthest behind.
• Governance: Montevideo's single authority is a structural advantage Santiago would envy — and one Buenos Aires also has.
• Distinctive asset: the rambla gives Montevideo a waterfront corridor, much of it already cycle-ready, that neither Buenos Aires nor Santiago has.

What can be learned. The point of looking at the neighbours isn't to build a ranking, but to see the levers. From Buenos Aires, Montevideo can learn that a serious public bike system, sustained over time, changes the scale of the thing. From Santiago's obstacles, it can confirm the value of something it already has and doesn't always use: a single authority for the whole city. Montevideo is small, yes; but it has the governance advantage and it has the rambla. What it lacks — a public bike system, and continuing to extend the network — is exactly what its bigger neighbours already show can be done. Small isn't destiny: it's a starting point.