Rio Starts Building New Bike Lanes After Deadly Tijuca Crash

Overview

• Work began Sunday on a protected lane along Rua Conde de Bonfim in Tijuca, with crews due to start later the same day on Avenida Augusto Severo and Rua Muniz Barreto under a 90-day completion goal as part of a R$ 20 million plan to add 50 km by 2028.
• A city decree now in force bars motorized scooters classified as ciclomotores from bike lanes and lowers the beachfront speed limit to 60 km/h so these vehicles use the roadway instead of the cycle path.
• New signs were installed along Rio’s oceanfront corridors and city teams report about 2,000 educational stops in three days to explain helmet use, registration plates, speed caps and where each vehicle type may ride.
• Under national rule Contran 996, devices up to 1,000 watts and capped at 32 km/h count as personal mobility gear that can use bike lanes, while faster or more powerful models are ciclomotores that need plates and an ACC or motorcycle license.
• Niterói applies those national thresholds to keep low-power devices in bike lanes under local law, yet riders and cyclists describe weak enforcement and risky speed gaps on busy stretches.