Mexico City - Tourists staying at central hotels in Mexico City will be able to request bicycles to move around the city through a programme that municipal authorities began Monday. Tourism Secretary Alejandra Barrales said the city government gave 10 bicycles to each of the 25 hotels along a tourist corridor on Paseo de la Reforma in the historic centre of Mexico City, with an investment of 125,000 pesos (some 11,000 dollars).
The programme Tourist Routes on a Bike is set to link 79 points of interest for visitors on eight routes, complete with special parking places, Barrales said.
The Mexico City government is serious about the promotion of bicycles to reduce daily motor vehicle traffic in the world's second- largest city.
According to official figures, some 3.7 million motor vehicles travel through the city everyday, at speeds as low as 10 kilometres per hour on main throughways at rush hour.
Following instructions from leftist Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, public officials must cycle to work on the first Monday of every month and early Monday, they were again seen on two wheels to comply with that request.
