400 E-Bikes to Help Bogotá's Health Workers Respond to COVID-19

April 17, 2020

COVID-19 is shutting down urban transportation networks around the world. But to “flatten the curve” and save lives, critical frontline health workers still need to get to work. In Bogotá, Colombia, where the city has already experimented with providing emergency bikeways, a new initiative is providing free access to an e-bike fleet for medical workers as the city begins to shut down all non-essential travel.

Micromobility company MUVO provides 400 e-bikes for critical health workers in Bogotá to respond to COVID-19
MUVO CEO Daniel Otero and COO Miguel Ocampo with health workers who are now using the company’s e-bikes to get around Bogotá. Photo by MUVO

On March 27, medical workers across the city began to receive electric bicycles from micromobility operator MUVO to facilitate their mobility and ability to provide life-saving services. MUVO agreed to repurpose its entire fleet of 400 bicycles, giving them over for personal use for one month initially, and Despacio, a local non-governmental organization, and NUMO, the New Urban Mobility alliance, agreed to co-fund operations. The city government is coordinating logistical support.

Learn more about this initiative and the MOVID19 hackathon that inspired here.

Header image: Ian Sane/Flickr

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