President Carlos Alvarado Quesada signed the Mobility and Cycling Safety Law as part of the activities of the National Decarbonization Plan 2018-2050. The purpose of this law is to promote and regulate the use of bicycles as a means of transportation, work, and recreation.
It is expected to contribute to the well-being of human health and to serve as a complement to reduce the use of fossil fuels in transportation, and the road collapse caused by the national vehicle fleet. There will be national and cantonal planning for integrated mobility and bicycle safety. In addition, the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Rodolfo Méndez Mata, the Minister of Public Education, Edgar Mora Altamirano, and the Minister of Finance, María del Rocío Aguilar Montoya, also signed the agreement.
The law will be governed by the principle of the inverted mobility pyramid. Pedestrians are placed first, then the means of active mobility, understood as any means of non-motorized transport (without delimiting it to skateboards, bicycles, wheelchairs, skates, among others). In the third box is the public transport and, finally, other means of transport.
The authorized interventions that contemplate connections and networks with education centers, the public transport network, public spaces, social health structures, offices of the Public Administration, sport and tourism development areas will be established as priorities. These interventions must include, in addition to technical studies, the necessary infrastructure to facilitate bicycle mobility and guarantee safety to the user.
Companies and employers that promote the use of bicycles as a means of transport for their employees and officials, may request one-time deduction of the annual gross income tax declaration of expenses such as acquisition, construction or remodeling of bicycle parking, sanitary services with showers and wardrobe space, purchase of bicycles and repair equipment in the workplace.
In addition, as a novelty, it is incorporated into road safety education as one more subject in the education system. It will be taught since pre-school.