We’re currently residing in the Providencia comuna of Santiago. This comuna has a bicycle program with multiple stations set up throughout the comuna. For ~$4/month, you can check out a bicycle for one hour at a time. Before your one-hour rental expires, you have to check your bike in at one of the bike stations. Once you’ve checked in, you can check your bike back out for another hour.
It’s a nice program. The bikes have one gear (Providencia is in a valley and is flat) and a large basket for carting your whatevers. Carman says the photo above makes the bikes look nicer than they really are. The bikes, as tends to be typical of public property, are often not in great shape: wobbly tires, bent frames, etc. But they’ve been great for him. He’s been able to explore and get some exercise too. All the streets are lined with sidewalks, and some of the them also have bike lanes.
I like the name of the program. It’s a cross of the English word “city” and the Spanish word for bicycle “bicicleta.” Citycletas. Clever, no?
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